


An Education of Sorts

by StateYourCase



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-01-27 01:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21383731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StateYourCase/pseuds/StateYourCase
Summary: The teacher AU no one asked for and I really didn't mean to write.Rey starts teaching at a new school and has to repeatedly tell herself that; no, she can't just punch her colleague in the face because, unfortunately, that sort of thing gets you  f i r e d.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 114
Kudos: 194





	1. The Roots of Education are Bitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's something I started writing after I PROMISED myself I wouldn't start another fic and then just couldn't seem to stop writing.  
Please enjoy my idiocy!  
xx

If someone had told Rey ahead of time just how her first day of teaching P.E. at Amidala High School would go, she probably wouldn’t have turned up.

In fact, she probably wouldn’t have even accepted the job, instead with a “thank you but I would literally rather impale myself on the statue at the front of the school. You know, that one of Padme Amidala, with the sharp pen held in the air, yeah, that’s the better alternative.”

You know, the general rejection gist she received after every application to a new school that wasn’t Jakku High.

That’s the main trail of thought that strikes her as whatever cretinous, fishy blob that passed for Dr. Ackbar’s lunch gloops down her front and slops indecently onto the floor.

And it was all one person’s fault.

Ben.

Fucking.

Solo’s.

-

The day started off innocent enough, one could even say it began well; no alarms missed, she managed to dodge her weird motel manager, avoiding even weirder conversation, no skirt tucked into tights mishaps, her car even spluttered to life, living another day and, for a first day, could one really ask for more?

But even so, once her first P.E. class with the seniors rolls around, a fair bit of relief comes with it. She has more of an opportunity to push them a bit harder in the upper years, not to mention she can get involved and work-out some of the first-day tension her earlier classes caused. Besides, it’s the last class before lunch, which obviously means food and only two more lessons until the stress of her first day is officially over.

She begins with a run, sadistically good for assessing the kids’ fitness levels, and when they finish it's clear exercise wasn’t the preferred way to spend their summer break if the huffing and puffing is any indication, continuing well into their stretching exercises.

“Come on, guys, deep breaths, you shouldn’t be out of breath from that! You’re young!”

One of the boys immediately starts huffing loudly, gaining some snickers from his friends.

_Ah, they make it so easy to spot the trouble-makers. _

Rey smiles, weirdly grateful for Jakku’s terrible students. It was a trial by fire, but at least they made her do her homework before entering any situation.

“10 push-ups, Jeremy.”

The boy throws a grin at his mates, completing the light punishment easily but he makes a show of getting back up, wheezing and wiping at his forehead.

“Hoo, that was tough!”

Rey raises her eyebrows in amusement.

“Would you like 20 more?”

There’s a sharp intake of breath from one of the girls – Del - her eyes wide with fear. However – almost insultingly – it’s not even directed at Rey’s disciplining, rather something in the distance past her shoulder.

“Oh shit,” one of them whispers. Rey makes a mental note to remind them about what does and does not constitute appropriate language as she turns to see what the big bad is and a large man comes into her line of sight, stomping across the pitch in their direction.

He can only be a teacher from the way he’s dressed, a neat deep blue shirt teamed with a dark tie and dress pants… but she doesn’t recognise him from the teacher’s development day yesterday and, honestly, forgetting him would be difficult, if not damn illegal. He could be any Byronic hero from her Austen collection as he strides furiously across the pitch, dark hair ruffled by the light breeze and an angry look on his face.

But right now, she’s on school time and the kids’ safety is her first responsibility from the approaching stranger. She turns to face him fully, crossing her arms and she spots him slow for a millisecond before resuming his stomping.

She’s toying with the idea of actually evacuating the students to the gym and getting them into lock-down when he’s finally close enough to speak.

“Are you Miss Niima?” The man calls sharply, not trying to hide his fury.

_Big_, is all her mind supplies.

“Yes, and who are you?”

He seems to falter slightly but not a second later, with a small shake of his head, he comes to a halt, closer than she might prefer but not enough that she feels the need to give him any more ground.

“Mr Solo, English department,” he replies in a deep, clipped tone.

Rey can’t help but notice the students inching back out of the corner of her eye.

“Your camping excursion for the seniors is booked the same weekend as the Star Writers Lectures,” he carries on without preamble. “The guest speaker this year is _Sheev Palpatine_.”

He stresses the last two words as though she should know who that is.

“…Should I know who that is?”

His scowl deepens.

“I planned on taking the seniors to it, like I do every year.”

Rey’s completely taken aback for a moment.

Just a moment.

“Well,” she says brightly, “perhaps if you were here yesterday when we organised excursion requests then you’d still be going.”

He seems to bite back some choice words, mouth working furiously.

“The faculty are well aware this is a yearly trip for the seniors. You’ll have to choose another day-”

“No.”

His mouth opens for a moment as if to say something, but nothing comes out. He blinks hard once, twice.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no,” she repeats for his benefit – very generously in her humble opinion, yet there’s a sudden twitch under his left eye and Rey wonders how much of a grasp he has on his temper. Perhaps she shouldn’t push him…

Buuuuut perhaps she will anyway.

“I was here yesterday. I booked it. No one had any objections then, besides, I’ve already began preparations for it.”

Okay, so that last part was an outright lie, but _like hell_ she was giving up her excursion for this self-entitled arsehole.

Apparently ‘no’ was not something he was used to hearing.

“It’s camping,” he begins disdainfully, as if the very concept was a personal insult to him. “You can do it any weekend; these talks happen once a year.”

“Then I very much hope you’ll be at the development day next year so you can book it in.” Rey replies, giving him a tight, extremely unfriendly smile and turning back to her students who are watching the exchange with various expressions of awe and distress.

“Fine,” he snaps sharply, “if you can’t discuss this rationally, I’ll find someone who can.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath and Rey doesn’t know if it was her or the students.

_Ohhh he did _not_ just go there._

Rey wheels around again, any shred of composure out the door.

“The only one being irrational here is _you_, Mr Solo,” she snaps furiously. “You’ve interrupted my lesson for a matter you could have spoken to me about during break, been extremely rude and shown absolutely _no_ regard for my teaching in the slightest. Now, _please,_ kindly leave my class in peace.”

She waits for him to either snap back or leave, staring him down as he does the same in return, his lips pursed tightly.

Finally, after another few agonising moments he whips around, storming back in the direction he came.

Rey huffs out a furious breath, turning back to her students.

Suddenly they seem much less inclined to argue with her.

_Little victories._

_-_

On balance, the little encounter before lunch doesn’t ruin her day… that is, until Mr. Windu interrupts her second last class to tell her she’s been asked to a meeting with the principal.

She’s out of breath when she arrives at Ms. Organa’s office, trying to gain a little composure before knocking, stifling that feeling of dread from being summoned to the principal’s office on her first day.

Rey knocks hesitantly, waiting for the subsequent “come in” before entering.

The first thing that comes into her line of sight is not a welcome one. Not in the slightest, but Mr Solo is impossible to miss as he makes Ms. Organa’s generously sized office look almost tiny.

He doesn’t look at her, obstinately keeping his gaze forward but Rey feels her own eyes narrow as she takes in his rigid form, his arms crossed tightly across his chest, face dark and glowering.

“Ah Rey, thank you for coming, please sit down.”

Rey whips her attention back to Ms. Organa, who greets her with a kind smile, something amused glinting in her dark eyes and realises Solo and the principal are not the only ones in the room.

Dr. Ackbar she vaguely recognises from the melee of new faces and names from yesterday but Poe Dameron, her head of department, is someone she’s met a few times in the lead up to the start of the school year. He strikes her as a decent guy; a little rash and boisterous perhaps, but overall alright.

Rey takes Ms. Organa’s offer and slips into the only vacant seat next to Poe, he shoots her a charismatic grin and she tries to relax slightly.

“Now, Rey, I’m sorry to interrupt your lesson, I know you’re probably just getting into the swing of things,” Rey notices Solo fidget slightly, “but I thought we should sort this sooner rather than later.

_You did or Solo did?_ She almost voices but she bites her lip before she can get herself fired.

“Ben’s mentioned that the excursion day he requires has been reserved for your camping trip. He wanted to discuss with the heads of department, however as it’s your excursion, I’d like to hear from yourself on whether you could swap to another weekend.”

She almost breaks, Leia’s diplomatic tone seems to have a way of making her want to compromise… but she glances over at Solo and catches his smug look of triumph that reminds her of every other rich kid who’s ever used their privilege and influence to get exactly what they want and she hardens, speaking without even thinking.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Organa but, like I already mentioned to Mr. Solo, I’ve already begun preparations for the trip.”

Leia has a look of polite surprise, and she’s convinced the woman sees right through her. That’s it, she’s categorically getting fired for lying to the principal on her first day. That or she’s going to hell, but hey, with her luck; it’s probably both.

“Oh yes, we already booked into a campsite in the Naboo Forest,” Poe pipes up quickly, and it takes every ounce of control to stop her jaw from hitting the floor. Was it possible? A head of department who actually has her back? “Early registrations for the site are essential and that weekend was the only one available for a large group during spring.”

Yep, Leia definitely looks like she’s fighting a smirk now.

“Well, I certainly admire your organisation, Miss Niima,” the principal manages diplomatically, turning to Solo. “Then, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything that can be done, I’m sorry Ben, but Rey did book the weekend fair and square and it’s completely her decision if she’s able to change it or not.”

Rey can barely believe her luck. She risks a glance towards Solo and there’s an odd red flush staining his tense face, so rigid it could probably crack in two. Rey even feels herself involuntarily shrink away.

“Perhaps it will be good to change up your excursion this year, Solo,” Dr. Ackbar booms jovially, “keep the young ones guessing and all.”

“It’s a different lecture every year,” he grits out, his voice full of barely-restrained fury.

“Well,” he replies vaguely, completely unperturbed by Solo’s reaction.

But, for all Solo’s anger, they’re dismissed, Poe shoots her a conspiratorial wink as he sets off towards his office, while Ackbar strides keenly in the direction of the staff room. Solo follows his head of department stiffly through the thickening corridors, the students parting easily for him as they take in his furious face and scuttle out of his way.

Ms. Organa might be done with them for the day… but Rey isn’t quite finished yet, the sight of him alone enough to make her bristle, a simmering rage rising at his gall.

She chases after him, slowed by the throng of students who - insultingly - appear much less intimidated by her, but she catches up to him just as he strides into the staff room.

“Solo,” Rey bites out sharply, “hey, Solo!”

He rounds on her sharply as soon as the door thumps closed.

_“What?” _

Perhaps she should be intimidated. He’s a big guy and there’s anger written over every inch of his long face, his shoulders tense and strained beneath the somehow still-crisp blue shirt.

Instead she just rises at his response.

“You _tattled_ to the headmistress?”

“I _know_ you haven’t started preparations for the excursion, it’s months away,” he hisses. “Just give me that day.”

“No,” Rey replies stubbornly, not even bothering to deny his accusation. “I claimed it, it’s mine.”

“Then I have absolutely nothing else to say to you.”

Ackbar potters around the kitchenette completely unbothered by the showdown going on mere steps away. The only other teachers in the room are Ezra Bridger, the Geography teacher, and Rose Tico, Algebra, who sit wide eyed at one of the round, mahogany tea tables dotted about the room taking in the whirlwind of fury that just stormed through the door with open mouths. Some food slips off Rose’s fork and slops back onto her plate.

“Well I do,” Rey counters stingingly. “_You_ are a completely selfish, unkind, rude _asshole_!”

He doesn’t react with any surprise at her words, although she does. Before today, Rey would have never dreamed of talking to a colleague in such a way, but there’s something about Solo that makes her unable to stop herself. His eyes just narrow, the tiniest glimmer of a malicious smirk at the corner of his mouth.

“Thank you, for that professional and eloquent evaluation. I assure you, I’ll take it into consideration.”

_Well. What do I say to _that_?_

She’s so angry that all she sees is red. She needs to punch something. Or maybe eat something. She also needs to not get fired for lying or assaulting another teacher on her first day because she has bills to pay and if she wants out of the shady old motel with the creepy manager and thin walls then she needs a steady pay check to do that.

Rey decides – quite sensibly, in her opinion – that putting the school’s boxing facility through its paces is what she needs right now. She whips around to storm out of the lounge but instead rams straight into Dr. Ackbar, who just so happened to be carrying his lunch – a strange, thick, fishy soup – to sit down and, instead of making its way onto one of the glossy, brown tables, it ends up all over Rey.

Still, despite the luke-warm mush seeping into her shirt, simply oozing the promise that she will smell like fish guts for her foreseeable future, the derisive snigger behind her, so full of condescension and arrogance is the absolute worst of it all.

_Fuck_ Ben Solo.


	2. But the Fruit is Sweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The roots of education are bitter but the fruit is sweet." - Aristotle

Three days.

It takes Rey three days to cool off from Ben Solo’s attitude.

In her defence the new job situation was fairly overwhelming and team it with the search for a new living space and the level of asshole Solo was; she thought it was fair enough.

Yet, between the hecticness of everything else she had managed to find a steady friendship in Finn, the Drama teacher and fellow newbie, discovering they had more in common than expected; from their meagre childhoods, a near obsession for _Empire’s End_, food, and also, an expedient need for a flatmate – at least solving one dilemma in her life.

But by Friday she had calmed down enough to honestly say to herself that she _maybe_ could have handled the matter better. Of course, she couldn’t just forget the whole situation, as would be her prerogative, because the rumour mill was _wild_ at Amidala High. She heard three different whispered accounts of the confrontation all before second period the very next day; she had pushed him, which definitely wasn’t true, Solo had ripped up a whole class’s finished homework and made them do it again, which could be true, and that he had begun a signed petition to get her fired, which she didn’t want to know if was true or not.

Sure, _he_ was a completely entitled asshole buuut she still doesn’t need to stoop to his level.

So, she decided - _very maturely_ \- to talk - _like an adult -_ to Mr. Solo.

And, quite honestly, she was getting very tired of the scowling looks he was throwing her across the staff room, the corridors, even the assembly hall yesterday while the student council were promoting the mentorship program.

So that’s how she ends up waiting in front of his first session class early Friday morning.

And, of course, he’s nowhere in sight.

Still, Rey’s committed to her plan, so she waits… and waits and waits, checking her watch more anxiously as her own class start time draws nearer.

She’s stretching, trying to destress with a lateral flex before moving onto a simple quad stretch, pulling the muscles taut and drawing out that delicious feeling of elasticity when she hears heavy foot falls behind her. She whirls and-

_Ah. There’s that happy, charming face._

His gaze is haughty and his arms are full of papers and three huge novels and a water bottle and quite frankly it shouldn’t be possible to hold that much but he’s so large he manages it with ease.

“Miss Niima,” is her curt greeting.

“Mr. Solo,” Rey’s fighting a grimace, “how are we this morning?” He steps around her to his classroom door, shifting the contents of his arms to reach for his keys.

“_‘You’_, how are _you_ this morning,” he corrects snidely.

_Wow, nice._

“I’m fine, thanks,” Rey replies acerbically.

_There goes the apology._

Still, she could be an adult without actually saying sorry to this dick-bag.

“I thought we should talk about what happened-”

“Are you giving up your excursion day?” He cuts in coldly.

Rey blinks in astonishment.

“No.”

“Then I guess we have nothing else to say to each other.”

“You don’t think we should even try to sort out our differences, so we don’t set the wrong example for the students?”

He doesn’t acknowledge her words, instead shouldering open the door and promptly striding inside.

Rey has to bite her lip hard to stop from yelling, instead silently throwing up her hands in frustration. She thought she’d prepared herself for his attitude, she really did, but he somehow still managed to astound her.

She takes a very deep, steadying breath and follows him in, striding forward until she’s positioned directly in front of his desk, folding her arms against her chest impatiently as he settles his papers down.

He takes his sweet time and Rey knows he’s just fucking with her, pretending to ignore her presence, but what he can’t anticipate, however, is just how much he’s pissed her off.

And that means she will ignore her own class, will let this classroom fill up with his students while she waits for the common decency of a response from Solo.

Thankfully, it doesn’t come to that. She’s considering repurposing the rusted chain barricading the old gym to fully commit to a sit-in against the soulless establishment that is Ben Solo’s lack of manners and general fucking respect when he finally – _finally –_ looks up with a tight expression.

“I don’t see how it will be a problem,” he replies in a clipped tone. “We teach in different departments and we’re unlikely to cross paths in front of them… unless of course you decide on making this imposition on my prep time a usual occurrence.”

Rey can't help the astonished huff that passes her lips. “Wow, you really are insufferable.”

“Good to know,” he replies as if he could not care less about her opinion – which, to be fair, he probably doesn’t, “now if you don’t mind, I have a class, as I’m sure you do. If you’d care to attend to them.”

It takes a _lot_ more self-control than Rey would care to admit to not knock the whole stupid stack of stupid papers off Solo’s stupid desk, but she manages. _Just_. Instead walking stiffly from the class in the direction of the gym as the swarm of students filling the corridor thickens, fully intending on locating Solo’s staff photo and taping it to the already well abused punching bag.

-

“Eugh! I can’t _stand_ him!”

Poe licks yogurt off his spoon with an absentminded ‘hmm’ of agreement, leaning against her desk.

“You should have seen the way he looked at me – like _I_ was the one being absolutely unreasonable – he is such a child! _‘If you’d care to attend them’_, eugh, I just want to – ”

Rey waves her clenched fists vaguely, her swivel chair pivoting to-and-fro with the movement, because the thing is; she doesn’t know what she wants to do. Strangulation would be good. It would give her hands something to do, but it would also entail close proximity and (she’d heard anyway) was notoriously difficult. _No, definitely not strangulation_. It would give Solo too much of an opportunity to roll his eyes and proceed to criticise her murder techniques.

“I have never met such a rude, condescending, unprofessional son of a-,” Rey looks around to check for youthful prying ears, but it’s the small gym office and the closest kids will be on the field playing baseball with Mr Windu.

“Before you finish that delightful sentence, you should probably know that _Leia_ is his mother.” Poe says in the most unfazed manner, he straightens, tossing the empty yogurt cup like a basketballer, the trash bag making a _swish_ sound as the cup finds its target across the room.

_What?_

“_What_?”

“He shoots, he scores!”

“Leia’s his _mother_?!”

So _that’s_ how rude, unprofessional dickweebs get jobs.

“Look, Ben can be a jerk when he doesn’t get what he wants but he’s not too bad usually.”

“No wait, stop. Leia Organa? Headmistress at Amidala High School is Ben Ultimate Dickhead Solo’s _mother_?”

“Yes, Rey, Leia is Ben’s mother. Really, I know you two haven’t had the best start but he’s alright, I’ve known him awhile.”

Rey can’t prevent the look of disbelief that crosses her face.

“Good one.”

“Seriously, he’s not all bad.”

“Okaay, then why’d you side with me the other day?”

“Because giving him shit is what our friendship is based on. Besides he deserved it for how he treated you, I wasn’t about to miss an opportunity like that, especially when he gets so uptight about his nerd panel. He probably won’t speak to me for another week.” Poe looks, if anything, vaguely proud of that realisation.

“Do the kids know?”

“About Ben and Leia? Well, yeah of course, they know _everything_ here, sometimes before we do… come to think of it, I get all the staff gossip from them,” he says looking thoughtful. “Like I had no clue about Ackbar and D’Acy until they told me, and oh boy, was that a scandal, you should have seen-“

“And they don’t make fun of him?”

“Wha- ha, you’ve seen him, right? The kids are terrified of Ben – hell half the staff are terrified too– Rey. Don’t be thinking what I think you’re thinking.

“Me?” Perhaps she said that a little too innocently because Poe is giving her a hard look. But seriously, come on, making fun of Ben Solo for working at his mother’s school should be prime real estate for teasing. It seemed fundamentally _wrong_ to let the opportunity slip away.

“Rey, seriou– actually,” he throws his hands up in surrender, “you know what, it’s your funeral. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he tosses over his shoulder as he vacates the office.

-

“Rey, honestly, this excursion thing is insane,” Rose launches a piece of popcorn into the air to catch in her mouth. It bounces off her cheek and onto the carpet, skittling to a stop near Rey. “He’s taking it out on the kids, I have the freshmen after Solo and I don’t think I’ve seen this many students in tears since the seniors found out the English exam was moved a few hours earlier.”

“Maybe it’s the algebra,” Rey replies, absorbed in deciphering which cable belongs to which connection port so they can have a working TV. Everything else is set up and moved into the new flat, she’s made it through two full weeks at Amidala High (clam chowder free, thank you), and she’s building connections with the students and staff at school (minus a certain moody English teacher); so when Finn suggested a chill mid-week dinner with Rose as a mini-house warming she jumped at the chance to celebrate those milestones.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s not the algebra,” Finn makes his way from the kitchen into their small living room with another bowl of snacks. “I was heading towards D-block yesterday and overheard him laying into some students for being 2 minutes late – they weren’t even from his class! I swear one of them looked like they were about to pass out.”

“Did you say anything?”

“Nooooooooooo. No way, I have to work with that guy.” Rey flings the rogue piece of popcorn at Finn, it hits his chest and bounces into his lap, “I can’t believe it, the sophs do a production based on a text they study in his class and apparently we need to ‘liaise’.” He pops the kernel into his mouth. “I see the meetings going really well. And by 'really well' I mean I’m gonna be sweating my ass off while he tells me exactly what we’re going to do.”

“He shouldn’t be allowed to just get away with being a dick to people. You should say something, 'take a stand against tyranny'.” Rey stabs a cable into another random port, quoting the tagline from _Empire's End_. 

“I would, but it’s that eye twitch – I can’t survive that; it looks like he’s about to snap.”

“Oh, you’ve seen it too? Watch, I can do a good impression.”

Rose’s attempt is a little over the top but conveys the likeness well enough, especially compared to Finn’s, which turns into the most salaciously farcical wink she’s ever seen. Rey grins, trying another combination of cords into the wrong coloured ports and is rewarded with the screen switching from black to grey.

_Success!_

“Alright,” Rey throws herself onto the couch between Finn and Rose, interrupting their squint-off and grabbing a large handful of popcorn. “I hear you; I’ll lay off… for the good of the children.”

And she was completely sincere in that assurance… however, sometimes even the best of intentions aren’t always the easiest to effectuate.

A fact which becomes abundantly clear during the meeting for the Swimming Carnival.

Poe takes the lead with the carnival preparation and while she appreciated the opportunity to see how things worked at the school, especially with her excursion coming up later in the year, she couldn’t say she agreed with all of his decisions.

“As usual, if any kids misbehave then send them straight to Ben.”

Rey’s speaking before she can stop herself despite Rose’s very pointed look.

“Wait, why?”

Poe looks momentarily surprised that someone’s questioned him on that point, but he tackles it gracefully.

“Generally, we have a no tolerance policy on rule-breaking for excursions and Ben just so happens to be the best person for the job. And dealing with any peeved parents.”

Okay, Rey can see the logic in that, and she’d be happy enough to let it go… but then Mr I’m Too Good For All Of You decides to pipe up and hurl any proficiency in conflict resolution out of her skill set.

“Shouldn’t you be glad you don’t have to deal with the students when they're misbehaving?”

_Shouldn’t you be rebinding every copy of Tolstoy you own like a creep?_

Rey pointedly looks away from Solo back to Poe, newly invigorated for a fight.

“Don’t you think we should give the students a chance, I mean, there’s a difference between a mistake and misconduct. And it’s not like they’re toddlers, they are capable of being reasoned with.”

Solo snorts quietly. Kaydel sips her tea bracingly, eyebrows raised as high as they go.

“Look,” he begins patronisingly, “you’re new here, I understand you still have a lot to learn but the students need structure and discipline in order to prepare them for the outside world.”

“No, they _need_ to make mistakes and learn from them in a supportive environment where they don’t have to be afraid of mucking up every once in a while.”

He laughs out loud this time but it’s hollow and ungenerous.

“And you think they won’t take advantage of that?”

“I think you can make a judgement call, instead of just painting them all with a single brush.”

“Oh, judgement calls,” he says with heavy dose of sarcasm, “that’s going to end well for you.”

Poe clears his throat emphatically.

“Okay, okay how about send the students to Ben _or_ Rey depending on the severity of their crimes.”

Everyone is quick to give their murmured agreement, but Poe waits on their consent with an apprehensive look.

Rey breaks first.

“Yes, of course, that’s fine with me.”

The finer points of the carnival's proceedings are dealt with more swiftly after that skirmish and Poe seems almost relieved to dismiss everyone. Most are quick to leave, carrying on to afternoon classes as the work week edges closer to an end, but Rose waits in the doorway for Rey and, of course, Solo lingers; taking his time as he stands from the table, pushing his chair in carefully, hovering between Rey and the exit.

She takes a chance anyway, determinedly paving a path, but-

“I really think you should leave the discipline to me, Miss Niima.”

Rey isn’t keen to hash out this argument again but she’s also not budging, settling on levelling him with a hostile stare instead, hoping he’ll get the message and shut up about it.

He doesn’t.

“The students need stability and equal treatment. And I don’t care if it makes me the bad guy, but they need to learn to respect rules. Sometimes harsh measures are necessary to achieve that.”

_Or all the time in your case._

“And if not,” he continues uneasily, “then I hope you won’t go easy because you think they deserve some kind of special treatment.”

“Of course not, Mr Solo.”

His eyes narrow slightly at her civility, but he nods just once; an off-kilter jerk of his head, lacking any modicum of certainty, before turning towards the exit.

“And if I do, I’m sure you can just tell your mom on me.”

He freezes in his tracks.

Rey bolts, taking advantage of his momentary immobility to whiz past him and yank Rose out the door with her.

The petite woman is silent for a few moments – perhaps still processing Rey’s stupidity if her raised eyebrows are anything to go by, before;

“Just so you know; I am sending every single terrorised student your way this afternoon.”


	3. He Who Burns His Bridges Better Be a Damn Good Swimmer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title quote by Unknown author

“Miss Niima!”

Rey really tries not to roll her eyes – she _does_ – but she can’t quite manage to suppress the urge as a deep voice calls down the outdoor corridor. She considers legging it, but the ropes are cutting into her shoulders, the heavy basketballs in each net weighing her down and she would probably only end up getting two leaps before sprawling over the ground. So, she just continues her pace, with the happy knowledge that her favourite person in the world is about to accost her.

“Miss Niima,” he’s right behind her, falling into place at her shoulder.

“Mr Solo,” not caring in the slightest that it is the most insincere greeting she’s ever heard, and that’s saying something since she once witnessed to two warring mothers exchange pleasantries at a science fair.

“May I speak to you, privately?”

Rey feels her eyes narrow at his request but doesn’t even spare him a glance let alone halt her progress.

“Did I split an infinitive?”

“Wh- pardon?”

“Forget a comma? Mistakenly use ‘their’ instead of ‘there’?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“No? The girls Volleyball sign-up sheet – I assume you’ve found some grammatical error and that’s why you’re speaking to me because there couldn’t _possibly_ be another reason.” She glances back, he looks like he’s about three seconds away from exploding at her. “So what was it? Overuse of the passive voice? Did you find a dangling modifier? A run on sentence-”

“The excursion-!”

_There it is_.

“Oh! How silly of me, there I was thinking _that_ old thing was dead and buried.”

He cuts in front of her, blocking the path she had been so determinedly paving towards the gym, forcing her to stop short. She hikes the slipping ropes more securely over her shoulders and he lets out a heavy, put upon sigh before pointing at the nets.

“Can I help you with those?”

Rey narrows her eyes, trying to figure out if he’s being sincere, and if he is; then_ why_?

“I’ve got it,” she replies caustically - _better safe than sorry_ \- but he simply ignores her, plucking one of the nets from her shoulder.

She could argue. Sure, she could snatch it back and heave them the rest of the way from the old gym – she’s made it this far, after all. But it really is more manageable with just the one net containing 10 or so awkward basketballs bumping against each other and her. So she stalks past him, assuming he’s following as she treks the final path to the gym.

“I was wondering,” he begins hesitantly, “if you might-”

“I’m not giving you the excursion day.” She doesn’t look but she can practically _see_ his mouth working, fighting to remain civil, but still, he trails her right through the double doors and onto the squeaky, laminated courts.

“Miss Niima,” he tries again tightly, “I was going to suggest, politely, that you-.”

“Shove it,” she dumps her net down onto the court. “I might have considered giving you the day had you asked me _politely_ the first time, but,” she turns to look at him and she’s right, the frustrated look is in place, “it’s a bit late. Have a nice day, Mr Solo.” Turning away again and dismissing him.

“I was going to suggest a bet,” he says in a rush, and Rey falters. That… was not what she had expected.

She turns back to face him, eyes narrowed, fully taking in the strangeness of Solo in his smart teaching clothes; a neat, clean, grey shirt and tie, dress pants, shiny shoes and all inside her gym space, the net still slung over his broad shoulder, as though it’s no burden at all, almost as if he’s forgotten it’s even there.

“Whoever wins can have the excursion day and I won’t fight the outcome,” he continues under her stare.

Rey feels her mouth quirk.

“Why would I make a bet with you for a day I already have?” He dumps down the basketballs too.

“Because I’ll do your lunch duty for all of January.”

_Hmm tempting as that was…_

“No dice,” she replies as sweetly as she can, bending to begin unpacking the nets in preparation for the freshman class.

“Fine. I’ll do your lunch duty for January, two of your assigned assemblies and volunteer for any of the sports day jobs you want.”

Rey freezes before straightening slowly to face him once again.

_Surely not. _Surely_ he wasn’t stupid enough to volunteer for all of the horrific tasks that came with the sports day._

“And what if I lose the bet?” His head picks up slightly at her consideration.

“You just have to give me the day.”

She thinks it through, chewing on her lip as she examines Solo.

“You _really_ want to go to that lecture.”

His only response is the slight press of his lips together.

“So, how are we deciding this bet?”

Solo’s eyes widen faintly.

“Uh – what about a game of poker?”

“I don’t know how to play poker.”

“Then a swimming race? At the Carnival on Friday?”

Rey finds her eyes flick down the length of him before she can stop herself – he seems to straighten even more under her scrutiny – and levels him a look.

“I don’t doubt my swimming abilities but you’re much bigger than me, I might be fast but you might be tall and fast. I’m not betting that.”

“Fine,” his reply has a note of petulance which makes her wonder if he really thought that plan would work. “What do you suggest?”

Rey just examines him. He shifts uneasily while she thinks.

“The fair next month,” she says finally, “whoever’s activity makes the most money can have the day.”

And if she loses… well she’ll just make the camping trip a few weeks later and not really lose anything at all.

But to be clear, there was no way in hell she was going to lose this bet, Solo would be wearing the mascot outfit while simultaneously running about measuring shot put distances. Perhaps she’ll but a target on the back of the costume just to give the students some incentive.

He looks suddenly hesitant at her open eagerness, perhaps spotting a maniacal look in her eyes.

Yet something in his gaze solidifies and he extends a hand to her. Rey hesitates a moment before taking it, not meaning to notice how large and soft and warm it is against hers.

“Deal.”

“Deal,” she tells herself she lets go of his hand quickly, “now get out of my gym.”

-

The smell of chlorine hangs heavy in the humid air, the yells, the hubbub of chatting students and bags of snacks rustling echoes within the glass and concrete building punctuated by splashes and whistles. It’s exhilarating and exhausting trying to manage all the students packed into the stands and keep track of events. But they manage – although no one quite knows how – getting through the usual races until they have a little more freedom to enjoy the day with the novelty events. She competes in the Student v Teacher medley with Finn, Kaydel and Ahsoka against the seniors. Rey was happy enough with how they had held their own until small, older, compact, history-teaching Ahsoka dived in as their final swimmer and absolutely annihilated the competition, leaving poor Anton in a stupefied daze.

Rose tosses Rey and Kaydel towels as they approach her on the bleachers dripping water everywhere.

“Ah finally,” Kaydel hums happily, plopping down next to Rose and fishing out a packet of crisps. “My favourite race.” She pops one into her mouth crunching joyfully as she watches the pool intently. Rey wrings her hair out, wrapping herself in the damp towel as a slight shiver wracks her.

Rose cranes her neck to see around Rey. “Move, would you, I want a good view.” She steals a crisp from Kay and Rey grins, bemused by their behaviour.

“Why is this your favo-”

“Shhh.”

“Wha-” Rose grabs her arm and yanks her down on the slippery bench next to her.

“Shhh, just look.”

“Okay, fi-!”

_Oh._

_Holy. Shit._

She isn’t fully prepared for the sight that greets her. But it’s there and – _yep_ – even after she’s blinked a few times _hard_, to clear what ever chlorinated impairment that is clearly affecting the link between her eyes and her brain to cause this illusion, it’s still very much _there_.

_Now that’s just not fair_.

Rey had thought earlier that in accordance with the soul-sucking, miserable, mind-numbing pit of boring that Solo was; he obviously wouldn’t compete in any races. Surely he would deem it too far beneath him to enter a public pool but here he was, lifting his shirt over his head as he stalked towards the starting blocks.

Now, _logically_, she knows he’s big. It’s the kind of unmissable thing about him. But it also just so happens to be immediately overshadowed by the amount of jerk he is whenever he opens his mouth. So, in her opinion: _fair enough_; she really hadn’t given much thought to anything besides his attitude after their first meeting. But now? Now he's standing there in nothing but a pair of black swimming trunks and she is getting a lashing of knowledge that he is ripped, and broad, and _oh my god is that an 8-pack??_

Rose is nodding sagely.

“Fair enough then.” Rey wraps the towel around her tighter reaching for some of Kaydel’s crisps.

The students are clearly all for Poe and he relishes it – throwing Solo a shit-eating grin and pumping his arms to the chants of the students. Even from the distance Rey can see Solo roll his eyes, although strangely it doesn’t look quite as spiteful as usual.

“Damn right, the Solo-Dameron race is the only reason I volunteer for the carnival,” Kaydel quips, tipping the remaining crumbs into her mouth as Poe and Solo step onto the blocks, prepared to dive.

A buzzer sounds and they leap into the water in tandem, the students and staff cheering loudly all the while, caught up in the infectious atmosphere. Just the vague outlines of their shapes are visible under the mosaic water until Poe breaks the surface, pulling back water to zoom across it. 

“Come on, Poe!!”

But when Ben breaks the surface it’s clam and precise, like a shark. The water seems to part for him with little effort on his part. He doesn’t even seem to need to breathe that much, as she watches them both power to the end of the pool and flip, kicking off to return, but then – _with a chest that size_ – he can probably hold it awhile. As much as she hates to admit it she knows she could not have beaten him. No more than Poe can, it seems.

Ben slams his hand flat against the pool tiles seconds before Poe to screams of disappointment from the stands, Rey’s included, but she’s grinning from ear to ear, the atmosphere too powerful to be disheartened for long. Ben wipes back his wet hair, water dripping from his face as Poe splashes him before shaking his hand. She’s just about certain he looks over in her direction, the tiniest of smirks in place.

_That jerk_.

Oddly enough; the thought doesn’t have as much venom in it as it could.

-

The first leaves are turning orange and beginning to slowly fall, a gentle reminder to everyone that summer really was over, a brisk wind blows them away as Rey and Finn trudge into the staff room for the Fall Fair meeting. Just another after-school meeting she isn’t about to be paid to attend, but overall she can’t complain; she’s gotten ahead with her grading, she and Finn now share custody of a house plant and although Solo still stares at her, it’s less ‘_I will get you fired’_ staring and a more thoughtful ‘_how will I destroy your camping trip?’ _stare. Which isn’t much of a win but a win nonetheless.

“Okay,” Ms Holdo says, looking through the minutes of the meeting, “we’re making good headway, just the teacher’s activities to settle; Finn, what did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking maybe a rubber duck race?”

“Perfect,” Amilyn replies absently jotting the suggestion down.

“Ben, how about you? Another book stall?”

Solo turns his head to look directly at Rey, all the way across the table, before opening his mouth to speak.

“I thought this year, I’d do a dunk tank.”

The room, which had been pleasantly buzzing with background conversation and the shuffling of papers goes deathly quiet. D’Acy’s sodden biscuit wilts and plops into her mug, her frozen hand halfway to her mouth. Rey’s mouth drops.

Amilyn is the first to regain composure.

“Uhm,” she clears her throat, “someone would of course, with a dunk tank… they would need to be… well, uh, _dunked_… you realise?” She ventures.

“Yes,” Ben replies, “I volunteer to be dunked.”

_Damn_.

_That bastard_.

He was good.

He was _really_ good.

Rey could barely imagine how many students he had pissed off in the past with a score to settle. Hell, he’d probably been making them extra mad the last few weeks just to ensure a few more bucks.

_Hell_, even she might contribute to his fund.

From the smug look he levels Rey with, he knows he’s got a good bet going. He doesn’t break eye contact while the other teachers go around, spieling off apple bobbing, sumo wrestling, tug-of-war, bungee runs, and suddenly Rey isn’t sure if her plan will cut it.

_He did not play fair._

_But neither will I._

“Rey? Rey, do you hear me?” She stops seething – _finally_ – to notice that the room is waiting on her.

_Nice one._

“Sorry, Amilyn,” Rey says quickly.

“What are you doing for the fair?”

The teachers who are in the know seem to hold their breath, leaning in slightly, waiting on her answer.

She looks directly back at Ben.

“School-wide capture the flag.”

Oh, she should not enjoy watching his face fall ever so slightly, but she does.

She fucking _relishes_ it.

It’s a risk, but if she plays her cards right, she _might_ have a chance. Surely Ben couldn’t have pissed off every single student at Amidala High…

_Right?_ She thinks doubtfully, re-assessing his standoffish body language.

“Well these all sound like excellent ideas,” Amilyn says breathily. “I think this really could be our best fair ever.”

Rey still hasn’t unlocked her competitive gaze with Solo.

_It definitely fucking will._

-

It’s raining outside, one of the first proper days of rain, the faint scent of petrichor drifting through the slightly cracked window into the vacant staff room. Rey likes the rain and sitting here alone with her papers ready for grading with no urgency to do anything at all, just watching it fall, amounts to one of her all-time favourite things. It’s simply… calm.

Of course, it doesn’t last.

Rey forces herself to refocus on the papers in front of her, content enough to listen to the pattering outside, tapping a red pen as she begins to read.

The door swings open.

Solo strides in, pulling up short when he spots her. Perhaps surprised to see anyone in the staff room. She knows she is – Rey didn’t think any other teachers had the same free period as her.

_Odd_… most of her Thursday afternoons are spent in the staff room alone, yet this is the first time anyone has interrupted it. The English teacher recovers quickly, continuing towards the kitchen cupboards without acknowledging her.

Rey’s just about thinking she’s escaped another enjoyable confrontation when he speaks.

“Miss Niima.”

Rey looks up, but he has his back to her.

“Mr Solo.” _And, hopefully, that will be the sum total of that._

Solo reaches for the coffee pot, only to find it empty. Empty because Rey filled her cup with the last of it mere minutes ago. Despite herself, Rey feels some guilt curl in her stomach defensively as she cradles her delicious coffee closer, the scent wafting out reprovingly.

He sighs, reaching instead for the instant stuff which makes her feel even worse.

_Don’t say it, he’s a jerk, don’t say it don’t say it don-_

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else would want coffee this late,” slips out and Rey bites her lip. _Stupid people pleasing brain, just shut up!_ “I didn’t want to make another… you know, if no one was going to drink it…”

It’s a strange atmosphere; tense and uncomfortable compared to how pleasant it was just moments ago.

He looks around in mild surprise, maybe because she apologised, maybe because he’d never _heard_ an apology before, turning back to his mug.

“That’s okay.” And something seems to break in the air, some tension fissures, releasing just slightly.

The sound of a metal spoon scraping against the cup tingles out as he mixes his drink. He turns, leaning against the counter as he takes a sip of ‘_coffee’_ that tastes more like feet than anything remotely like what the name suggests. To his credit he doesn’t even grimace.

She toys with bringing up the bet… but it just feels wrong. The generous pitter-pattering of steady rain continues and it’s too peaceful to ruin getting riled up with a shouting match.

He looks out the window. Rey follows his gaze to watch the rain hitting the leaves outside.

“It’s barely stopped all day.”

Rey’s not sure how to respond to that.

“Yeah…” she says uncertainly, “I had to swap to gym activities.”

“Ah,” he says, staring uncomfortably at his mug before taking another sip of foot-coffee.

“Well, have a nice evening, Miss Niima,” and before Rey can even swallow her shock to form some kind of reply, he’s out the door and gone.

_That… was the weirdest interaction ever._


	4. Attitude is Important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for something a little different... ;)

Rey doesn’t know how she does it, she _really_ doesn’t.

How on earth she manages to get herself into these ridiculous situations.

Well, to be perfectly honest, she can lay part of the blame at Finn’s feet. Ever since the swimming carnival he had barely shut up about Poe. “Did you see his abs? Is he dating anyone? Can I meet you in the gym office after school? Will he still be there? Ask him if he likes anyone. What’s his favourite colour? Do you think Poe will think I look good in these chinos?” To the point where Rey, in a fit of frustration, grabbed her supervisor and told him point blank to ask Finn out or so help her she might just murder someone.

So, she wasn’t renowned for her subtlety, sue her.

But Poe, bless him, had responded with pleasant surprise at her request and happily proceeded to do as she asked. And that’s how her housemate spent the last couple of weekends, leaving her randomly swiping in a fit of boredom (and possibly some jealousy at how smitten Finn was while he flipped pancakes Saturday morning) until the first guy she matched with asked her out.

But she has to congratulate herself, really, the other alternative is dissolving into a pool of frustrated tears or smashing the empty glasses that litter the table.

So instead she just sits there across from Armitage, her date this evening, with one continuous thought barrelling through her mind as he natters on about something completely inconsequential:

_Well done, Rey, really fucking well done._

Somehow, he’s managed to speak nearly incessantly, barely stopping to breathe let alone allow her a word in edgeways, and all she’s gathered about him is that he teaches at a private school and owns a cat. But at that moment there’s lull in her date’s speech – one of the first of the night – and Rey belatedly realises she must be expected to respond in some way.

_Well fucking done, Rey._

“Haha,” she laughs weakly, and it’s the shittiest attempt she’s ever heard but for all it matters, he doesn’t even notice. He simply adopts a self-satisfied smirk that makes her skin crawl and carries on with whatever the sweet hell he was talking about.

_Oh_.

She immediately regrets focusing in on his words as he discusses – in excruciating detail – his cat’s bowel movements; specifically, during the evening hours, and, if the previous conversation is considered, she should expect a thrilling sequel in the form of the detailed night-time movements too.

She lets her gaze drift away from her date to the other parts of the otherwise lovely restaurant they sit in. The wooden interior and ambient lighting should be the perfect date location… although, it seems the family seated in the booth ahead of her missed that memo as a toddler keeps popping up at her date’s shoulder just to stare at her with big, unblinking eyes, food occasionally dribbling out of its mouth and onto the back of the seat. She tries ignoring it and attempts to follow Armitage’s trail of speech. But the eyes: Just. Keep. Staring.

_How on earth do you manage this, Rey?_

She hears the old entrance door swing open on rusty hinges and, to be honest, any new development that doesn’t involve nodding along with an asinine smile plastered to her face as her date mentions – ugh, the _consistency_ – is enough to necessitate her attention on this disaster of an evening.

She glances over innocently enough and-

_Fuck._

_Fuckity fuck._

Ben Solo walks through the doorway, stooping ever so slightly to get through the _perfectly normal sized door_.

Because of course he does.

He holds it open for a moment, waiting and-

_Double fuckity fuck fuck_.

Leia Organa follows him inside with a handsome older man that can only be Ben’s father, judging from his height and obviously luscious hair, despite the grey.

She should really duck beneath the table. She should sprint for the bathroom. Anything before they can spot her and absolutely end her life in one quick “oh hello Rey, is this your boyfriend?” But she can’t. She’s frozen, absolute horror seeping through every damn atom in her body.

_Well done, Rey, you’ve out-fucking-done yourself this time._

And as though Ben heard her blaring thought, he looks up suddenly, meeting her horrified gaze with slight surprise marring his handsome face.

_‘Handsome’ where the hell did that come from?_

And of course, Armitage chooses that very moment to pay attention to her; by following her line of sight… right to Ben fucking Solo.

_Incredible._

Her date makes a short noise and Rey can’t help but wonder if his cat makes the same sound when she throws up hair balls.

“Solo,” he mutters disdainfully before turning back to her with an even more pinched look on his face.

But her eyes are still glued on Ben, who has not only seen her date, but quite clearly knows him too, judging from the disgusted look that crosses his face and the accusatory expression he levels her with before following his parents to the bar, who remain _blessedly_ oblivious. And really, someone had better jump out and scream “You’ve just been punk’d!” right in her face or at least pity-clobber her with a baseball bat because this is ridiculous.

But they don’t. Because this is just her life.

“He has to be the biggest prick in all of Coruscant.”

Rey’s wondering how the hell everyone seems to know everyone in this town before the thought strikers her that this could actually work in her favour.

“How do you know him?”

“He was head of English at my school,” Armitage replies derisively, and for some reason Rey dislikes him even more.

“Don’t you teach English?” She asks innocently. “Doesn’t that mean he was sort of your boss?”

A touch of red marks his pale cheeks - some kind of justice for evening - and if anything, it also makes him more eager to dish dirt on his ex-superior. Win.

“He and Mr Snoke, the headmaster, had a… falling out, we’ll say.”

Rey’s gaze roams while Armitage gossips, finding Ben and his parents settled at a table at the end of the room, drinks in hand, where he stares angrily _right at her_.

_What the hell is his problem?_

She tries not to pay it any attention, after all, she has enough of her own to manage right now, but seriously, he's _almost_ as bad as the toddler.

_Geez, he’s not even being subtle._

Leia’s sharp gaze suddenly follows her son’s right to her. Rey’s head whips back to her date.

_Nooononononono._

“I mean, I wasn't surprised, the way he ran the department was telling and he must have had an abundance of parent complaints the way he carried on,” Armitage continues, oblivious to her internal panic. “You know I heard he even- oh, hello Ms Organa,” he suddenly drops the hushed tone, a smarmy smile replacing it.

Horror. Absolute horror. It’s too much for one person to bear. Rey looks down, quickly calculating how successful she might be in suffocating herself in the remains of her beef stew; sadly, her chances of survival seem too high to risk it. Resigned to her fate, she peers up at her boss, _somehow_ managing not to scream.

“Oh hello, Armitage,” Leia replies kindly, “hello Rey, it’s nice to see you.”

Rey can’t bring herself to glance over at Ben although she’s certain he’s watching.

“Hi, Ms Organa,” Rey says weakly.

“Oh, you know it’s Leia, dear, especially after-hours” she returns, kind humour twinkling in her dark eyes.

Despite everything Rey feels a genuine smile come through.

“Well,” Leia continues, “I’ll leave you young ones to it, I just wanted to pop over to say hi,” there’s something else in her eyes though, something more mischievous than kind this time. “You both have a lovely night.”

Hux waits a moment until she’s out of earshot before nearly throwing himself across the table to whisper eagerly.

“I heard Solo was gunning for the headmaster’s job, but Snoke must have caught wind of it. You see, our headmaster’s very clever and he _knows_ what Solo’s like; he refused to even promote him to the deputy head position. And what do you know? Solo lost it. He threatened Snoke and destroyed half his office and – I mean it was bound to happen, he’s _completely_ unstable – obviously Snoke fired him on the spot, what other choice would any self-respecting person have?” Armitage takes a satisfied sip of his gin. “I heard no one else in the county would take him on, so he goes running back to his mother to hide behind her skirts at that poor excuse for a school.”

Rey looks at him in shock. _Did he really not put two and two together from Leia’s conversation?_

“I don’t even know how they can call it a school, you know they don’t even have a debate club and I don’t think the students even get laptops, they’d have to use the library computers. It’s honestly pathetic, but I’m just glad Solo knows how far he’s fallen to be lumped in with the likes of them, you know-”

But Rey doesn’t know, because without any active thought on her part, her hand is reaching for the very full glass of wine she doesn’t remember not knocking back and before she can say ‘risk assessment and minimisation strategies’ the burgundy contents of the glass are splashing out with frightening accuracy all over her date’s ferrety face and dripping into his red shirt.

He gasps in shock, eyes going wide as he blinks wine from them.

“I teach at that school,” Rey hisses, rising from the table as intimidatingly as she’s capable of. “Which you might have discovered if you’d stopped talking about Mistletoe for even two seconds and just _asked_,” she ends sharply, awkwardly edging out of the booth in the suddenly deathly silent restaurant, very conscious of the fact she probably looks verifiably insane.

Well, silent, minus the weird toddler who’s started crying loudly and the sounds her date is making.

“It’s Millicent!” He splutters angrily, red-faced.

Rey can’t even be bothered dignifying him with a ‘whatever’. She’s absolutely done with the night. Yep; she’s been on a god-awful date, been creeped out by a toddler, had her arch nemesis witness the whole spectacle that is her unfortunate life, and her boss finally understand what an absolute mess she truly is.

_God, it’ll be a miracle if I even have a job come Monday._

Someone’s trying and failing to stifle a laugh and Rey glances over against her better judgment. The older man at Ben’s table looks like he might just burst a blood vessel trying to contain his mirth. Her eyes slide over to Ben involuntarily and there’s amusement in his dark gaze… and maybe even something like respect?

She snorts internally at the thought.

_No, definitely not._

Her stride doesn’t break as she turns her attention back to the sacred exit, trying not to look like a fucking cliché as she scrapes any dignity she can find along the way, wrenching the old door open and marching through before anything else can make tonight more of a complete and utter embarrassment.

_Well _fucking_ done, Rey._

It doesn’t even occur to her until hours later; that she never ordered a wine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! xx


	5. All's Fair in Love, War, and Academia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the fair. This is not a drill.

“Did you enjoy your _date_?”

Rey feels her eyes narrow and fists clench in response to the voice behind her.

“Not as much as I’ll enjoy destroying you today.”

There’s a soft scoff.

“I doubt it, I’m very good at pissing people off.”

“Armitage sure thought so.”

“I bet _Armitage_ did,” Ben mutters disdainfully.

“He seemed absolutely devastated to not have your company at school anymore.”

Rey’s expecting some witty retort, but it never comes. She glances around, just to make sure he’s still there – not because she’s disappointed about the lack of comeback, _obviously_, she's just… curious. _That’s it_. But, yep, he’s still there, he hasn’t transformed into a bat and flapped away to hang from the pumpkin carving stall with the other Halloween themed objects. But he’s not even looking at her, let alone taking the bait, instead his eyeline is fixed on something in the distance with a tight expression.

Probably at some students flouncing his rules by _enjoying themselves_.

“So, are you ready to spend the day drenched?” _Gotta help the kids out somehow_.

He grimaces, his attention returning to their little skirmish.

“The talks are worth it.” He says finally... however, he doesn’t sound all that convinced anymore and with a short nod, he strides away, down the alleyway of stalls in the direction of his own booth before she can offer up any reply.

-

Well he wasn’t a liar, there was a fucking line for Ben’s stall. Hell, Rey even spotted a few parents in there too.

She watches for a while, pulling at pieces of cotton candy and letting them dissolve into sweet sticky sugar in her mouth, but worryingly it seems rather difficult for the students to actually _hit_ the target and if they do manage to swipe it there’s not enough force to send Ben slamming into that icy cold water.

Hopefully it’s not a reflection on her P.E. classes.

Ben’s practically looking downright bored when Finn joins her to watch.

“Oof, now _that_ is a line,” he tears some pink fluff from her stick, gazing at the sight with wide eyes.

“Who’s manning the ducks?”

“Poe offered, he said something about not missing this historic moment, but I think he was more concerned than anything.”

“Did the names tip him off?”

“He probably had some suspicions, but then he caught me giving Quack Sparrow a pep talk and told me to take a break.”

“That’s on you, why would you ever bet against Duck Norris?”

“Quack Sparrow has a purple coat though, you know I can't resist that coat." Finn looks back towards the dunk tank, thoughtfully. "Solo's looking a bit dry, I'm guessing it's not going much better here?”

Rey sighs frustratedly. “I think he’s rigged the game so the trigger doesn’t work –” BOOM! “See! That one _totally_ clipped the target.” She shoves the last of the cotton candy at Finn as an offering, feeling happier than she has any right to when he refuses.

“Oh, here we go – look,” Finn nods as, _finally_, one of her more athletic seniors steps up to the plate, tossing the ball leisurely and looking as though he was truly savouring the moment.

“Yes, c’mon, Jeremy,” Rey mumbles, twirling her cotton candy stick between her fingers.

Ben actually looks slightly apprehensive, shifting faintly on the small platform as the crowd cheers the boy on with whoops and whistles.

Jeremy squares up to the target, taking a deep, content breath before throwing the ball. Hard.

BOOM.

It hits the back of the metal structure, missing the lever entirely.

Jeremy frowns but sets himself up to throw again.

BOOM.

It hits the back, missing again, but this time it skims the target lever ever so slightly before sailing into the back.

The cheers have turned into calls of desperation, but Rey’s spotted something.

“Jeremy,” she calls, “follow through from your chest, you’ll get more power.”

Ben’s eyes snap in her direction with a withering glare so she shoots him a winning smile.

Jeremy lines himself up a final time, looking focused.

He throws, and there’s definitely more power this time and…

_THWACK_.

It’s a direct hit on the lever! Ben’s seat slips from under him sending him into the cold water with a huge splash and loud cheers from the crowd. He re-emerges from the water with a gasp, his dark, water-logged hair plastered to his face, immediately climbing back to sit on the seat again.

_And my job is done._

“Come on,” Rey sighs happily, nudging a still-cheering Finn, “I’ve suddenly got a really good feeling about Quackular for the next race.”

She’s practically beaming as she departs, leaving Ben to his fate yet she finds herself drawn back again and again for the sheer enjoyment of the spectacle.

The fourth time she checks in she heads straight for Ben, strolling towards him with a warm bowl of paella in her hand and she can’t quite banish the big grin on her face.

Though to be fair, she really doesn't try.

He looks down at her from his pedestal, clearly trying not to shiver as he stares mournfully at her food before glancing to her face.

“Glad someone’s happy today,” he mutters begrudgingly.

“This is the best day ever,” Rey replies, tears of absolute joy threatening run rampant.

“You’ll be pleased to know,” Ben mentions brusquely, a slight quiver in his voice from the cold, “they’ve taken your advice to heart.”

“Huh?” Rey replies eloquently.

Ben’s response is a nod towards his line of assailants, where Poe is stepping up to the line.

One of the younger boys approaches him; “You’ll get more power if you move your chest with your throw, Sir.”

Ben looks back down at her in disgust. Rey sighs proudly.

“It’s moments like these that I’m reminded why I became a teacher.”

BOOM.

Poe’s shot misses but he grins all the same.

“You can’t be mad with me, Ben,” he calls, “I’m supporting you!” He waves the baseball happily like Ben should be pleased and throws again.

_THWACK_.

This time Ben goes down. Rey makes a hasty retreat, trying valiantly to protect the paella.

He re-appears, climbing the ladder to take his seat again, water cascading off him. Rey finds her eyes somewhat transfixed (for longer than she'd care to admit) on how the muscles in his thick arms flex from the effort before tracking up to his shoulders to study the way his soaked black shirt clings so steadfastly to the planes of his chest, bringing back mental images of the swimming carnival in full force.

_Oh my god, get a grip, for the love of-_

Rey shakes her head slightly, taking a bite of food. “How many times is that now?” 

“I’ve lost count,” Ben replies, “It’s getting to the point where I might just stay down there.”

Rey snorts and she sees him glance down at her.

“Is it still worth it for this Shiv guy?” Rey asks.

Ben looks doubtful.

“Yes,” he replies defiantly, “_Sheev_ is an influential writer of his generation.”

“Good to hear,” she says enthusiastically, “I’ll be back later to see if you still feel the same.”

She sends him the brightest smile she can manage before moving away but not before she hears him reply.

“I look forward to it, Rey.”

Maybe he'd swallowed too much dunk-tank water, maybe the cold was beginning to affect his interpersonal skills and make him a nicer person, but whatever it was should not be capable of making her feel that spark of energy course through her when he said her name.

_Whatever_. It’s probably the sugar rush from all the candy she’s inhaled today. She heads in the direction of the field but not before she hears the _THWACK_ and resulting splash from behind her, bringing another happy grin to her face.

-

In the end, it couldn’t really have gone better.

Somehow all the kids managed to join forces to have an intense, unpredictable showdown in one final tie-breaker game of capture the flag. All the athletic seniors on the blue team made a last ditch run at their opponents in an attempt to get through the red teams defensive line. All were caught and as the red team looked on in confusion, trying to figure out which senior had their flag, a small freshman girl slipped back to blue's base with it clutched tightly in her petite hand. Rey grins at the memory of the huge seniors screaming in joy, hoisting the little freshman in the air and carrying her to the makeshift podium with the rest of the team in tow.

_Yeah, it went pretty well,_ Rey thinks with just a smidge of pride, she shivers slightly, stepping up a place in the queue. Dusk is creeping in steadily and with it a particularly cold breeze driving away any warmth left of the day. All she wants now is a warming cup of pure chocolate in her hands, but there’s a particularly harangued looking mother in front of her, struggling to keep a grip on one of her wriggling children while the other fusses in her arms, who most definitely deserves it more.

And to be completely honest... part of her is thankful for the long, slow line - even if it's just to put off the inevitable. Somewhere in the office, Rose and Ezra are counting the takings of the day and sure, capture the flag went well - but well _enough_? She’s not certain, and part of her doesn’t want to hear she’s lost just yet.

Or at least; doesn’t want to hear she’s lost without a steaming mug of sugary happiness to make everything better.

Rey’s so focused on the elder of the two children in front of her, mentally preparing herself to intercept the kid if he makes a break for it, that she doesn’t even hear someone approaching until there’s a light cough from right next to her, startling her.

“Oh, sor- Ben.” Rey feels her eyes narrow in suspicion at the tall – regrettablydry – English teacher. “Come to gloat?”

His eyebrows raise infinitesimally.

Rey keeps her head held high, trying not to let her disappointment show. “Well get on with it, I know you’re dying to rub it in my face.”

_Goodbye sweet mascot-wearing revenge, goodbye delegating cone-duty every single event. _

“Actually, -" he sticks a hand out, only somewhat stiffly, "- I came to tell you that you won." His eyes are dark and unreadable. "Congratulations, the excursion day is still yours.”

Rey stares at the offending hand for a moment, not quite believing it.

“Wait, seriously?"

Ben just looks at her, waiting silently.

"And you’re not going to argue with me about the trip anymore?”

“I said I wouldn’t.”

“And you won’t try to ruin my excursion?”

“Well, I don’t remember that being part of the deal…” Rey feels her own brows raise high, until she spots the dark smile in Ben’s eyes. “But no, I won’t.”

It's too good to be true. The excursion day _and_ Ben Solo at her mercy for nearly the rest of the year?

_So, dreams really do come true._

“Okay then…” Rey reaches forward hesitantly, letting his hand engulf hers for the briefest of moments before he releases her hand.

“What can I get for you, loves?”

Rey's still processing the last few minutes, realising belatedly that the kindly old lady operating the stall is addressing them, the mother already expertly guiding her children away in a firm grip, beverages stacked in one hand.

"Oh - sorry," she starts before spotting Ben nod and turn away and_ there's that strange rush again_ \- almost like fear - from deep inside her.

“Ben, wait - two hot chocolates please –,” she hands over some cash before hesitating, “- hold on, you _like_ hot chocolate, right? I mean, you spent most of the day in an icy tub and your hands are really cold so you should probably have some even if you don’t, but there are some weird people out there who, you know, don’t like chocolate for whatever reason and you could totally be one of them because you're, well, you're - I mean, not that - uh, anyway. Hot chocolate, you like it? Becau-”

She knows she's babbling. But she just can’t seem to stop herself. _Why on earth did I think the candied apple _and_ candy necklace were a good idea??_ But the kindly old woman is perhaps more world-hardened than Rey first thought, as two steaming cups are deposited firmly in front of her before she can keep blathering.

“Oh. Thank you.”

She fits a lid on each cup before thrusting one towards Ben... who eyes her uncertainly like she's completely lost the plot - and to be honest; _fair enough_ \- but he accepts it nonetheless, something like a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Well…”

Ben nods awkwardly.

“…have a nice night,” Rey says and they both start off in the same direction. “Oh – are you going this-?”

“Yeah, my car-”

“Oh, of course, sure.”

They continue along the narrow thoroughfare, between the rows of stalls, past a pack of giggling sophomores and Rey fiddles with her drink as she looks around for something to say, prying the lid off and blowing on it just to giver herself something to do. Fairy lights have been switched on and plenty of people are picking out gloves and scarves from the warm clothing stand, chatting away, as some local band’s easy-going songs mix in with the other sounds of the fair.

_Well this is awkward._

“So, you’re not sticking around for the clean-up?”

“I'm hoping even Leia might be sympathetic to a case of pneumonia.”

Rey stops abruptly.

“Oh! Oh my god, are you okay?”

Ben halts a few steps ahead, turning to consider her patiently, a look somewhere in between amusement and confusion gracing his face.

“Oh. You’re kidding.”

“I’m truly touched by your concern, though.”

“Jerk.”

Ben continues walking, not appearing at all phased by the insult and Rey hurries a little to keep pace next to him, taking a moment to examine him. He's taking this whole losing thing _much_ better than she expected. Not even a hint of sulkiness in his demeanour; no pouty lip, no stamping of feet, _nothing_ to suggest he's even _slightly_ miffed by how the day has gone.

It's all just very... _strange_.

He clears his throat.

"You're staring."

Rey whips her face forward.

"No I'm not."

There's a short exhale of breath, which could be his weird version of a laugh, for all she knows. Thankfully, she doesn't need to fixate on trying to figure it out for long.

“So, how did you convince nearly the whole school to pay to do physical exercise?”

Rey grins into her hot chocolate.

“I _may_ have mentioned what was on the line to a couple of seniors - in total confidence of course. I have no idea how the rest of them found out,” she replies breezily.

“Ah, of course." He's silent for a beat. "So, you cheated, technically.”

Rey nearly chokes on her drink at that. “Excuse me? We _never_ said we couldn’t tell anyone about the bet, so actually I didn’t cheat – _at all_ – not even technically, _at all_.”

“Okay,” he replies taking a sip. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Rey gapes at him.

“You are such a sore loser, aren’t you?”

“I literally just congratulated you.”

“Yeah, but it hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

Ben directs his face forward, looking as though he might actually be fighting a smile.

“It might have.”

They pass the last of the stalls in a companionable silence, finding themselves outside the bubble of light and sound the fair exudes, Ben lifts the cup in his hand slightly.

“Thanks for the drink.”

Rey shrugs. “Least I could do after such a mortifying defeat." She _thinks_ she sees him roll his eyes - it's difficult to tell in the dark - but she definitely hears that strange scoff-laugh thing again. "See you Monday.”

He nods, pacing on through the grass towards the line of vehicles, raising a hand in farewell.

Rey watches his broad figure retreat into the gloominess for a moment before turning back to the glow of the fair in search of Finn, completely and utterly ready for a proper celebration in the form of copious amounts of wine.


	6. Education is the Art of Making Man Ethical

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title quote by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
> 
> Inspiration has definitely been lacking since TROS but it struck again so I hope you enjoy! xx

When Finn came down with a bad flu in late November, she was a good friend.

She made him soup without any carrots in it, made sure he had plenty of tissues and blankets and easy access to water and movies because she knows being sick sucks when there’s no one around to look after you. So, when he asked her for a small favour from his sickbed as she cleared away his snotty tissues of course she said yes without even bothering to check what that favour was.

Oddly enough, she wasn’t as completely mortified about spending the day with Ben for his cobbled-up excursion as she thought she might be.

_It’s the kids,_ she rationalises as she boards the bus the morning of the excursion, signing hello to Chewie in the driver’s seat, _it’s them I don’t mind being around, not him._

Ackbar’s happy enough to wait at the entrance once they arrive – simultaneously acting as a meeting point if the kids get lost and a guard to stop them from getting any funny ideas about escaping from the museum, nearly jumping at the chance to sit around and read his book while they went around appreciating the art.

Of course, lo and behold, some of the kids have a little more trouble than others in the ‘appreciation’ part, specifically in relation to the very… _revealing_ statues.

One of them sniggers.

“Jason,” Ben barks sharply.

“But it’s porn, sir,” Jason replies, gesturing at the statue of a naked man.

Ben’s reply is from between gritted teeth.

“It’s _art_.”

Rey tries not to roll her eyes; collegial solidarity and all.

“Alright,” she cuts in, diffusing any lecture Ben might be about to launch into. “Everyone knows what they’re doing? Good, we’ll meet back here at 2pm.”

She certainly appreciates the lack of questioning from the students. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been listening as Ben spelt out the excursion task – something vaguely about finding a piece in the museum to write a creative story on to demonstrate the link between art and the written word – she’d just been preoccupied with something else. Mainly; wondering why he chose to sit next to Ackbar on the journey to the museum, and whether he actually had changed direction those times she’d seen him in the hallways that past month, or why he went an even paler shade of white and quickly packed up his things, practically fleeing the staff room Thursday afternoon, when she glibly told him she’d be replacing Finn for the excursion.

So yeah, she’s grateful the students don’t decide to press her, and instead start breaking into smaller groups and trickling off in different directions as they venture around the large building.

Rey watches them disperse for a moment before bringing her attention back to the statue in front of her. It’s beautiful. The marble sculpture shows off a proud face supported by a strongly corded neck and prominent shoulders with strong planes of chest leading down to defined abs and a _very_ distinct v which guides her gaze all the way down to -

_Geez get a hold of yourself, Rey._

Thirsting after a statue surely made the list of indicators that her own love life was a piece of crap. Needless to say, she hadn’t ventured back onto dating apps since the whole Armitage fiasco.

“It’s Apollo,” a deep voice says quietly from behind, startling her.

_For a big guy he sure can keep quiet._

“Son of Zeus and Leto and twin to Artemis. He ruled over so many affairs and objects that it’s unknown what his actual origin was; some think his name is synonymous with destruction although it’s thought it more likely originates from the word for sheepfold, and that he was originally a protector of herds.”

_Okay, he needs to stop_. For whatever reason his deep, resonant voice was sending slow warmth down her, like warm honey, to somewhere deep and low in her belly. She keeps her gaze firmly on Apollo’s face.

“He could bring harmony and light with him but death and destruction too.” He pauses for a beat. “Even the gods feared him.”

He trails off and oddly enough, all Rey wants is for him to continue. He doesn’t.

She looks around, a quip ready on her lips, but he’s already turned away and is striding off, down the corridor.

Rey follows slowly, her brow slightly furrowed at his hurried exit.

_Well, I suppose one of us should be responsible and make sure the kids don’t destroy the priceless artefacts._

-

Rey spends much of the allotted time wandering into different rooms, occasionally stopping to read descriptions or chat to some students to see if how they’re going. They’re good students, actually getting along with their work without requiring any hounding.

_Although if Ben’s their teacher they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, lest risk his wrath._

Speaking of, she had barely seen Ben since arriving, hours passing with only the faintest glimpses of a broad figure with a shock of dark hair stomping out of a room she strolls into.

_Probably tailing the less trustworthy students to ensure they don’t have fun._

She keeps wandering until there’s less and less people, absorbed completely by the displays from bygone eras. It’s only when she looks up from a cabinet containing stones from Rome around 400 BC that she finds herself alone in a secluded part of the museum. A room just off to the side catches her eye, a towering sculpture buried deep within. She feels herself drawn towards it, as though some invisible force was pulling her in.

A woman strides proudly forward, perpetually in the motion of stepping from her high pedestal, robes billowing around her. The naked figures of men and women dot the room while nymphs and centaurs hide in corners, crouched and ready. She continues, but the torso of a man catches her eye.

Only the neck and shoulders down to the ends of his thighs are left intact but it’s so beautiful she has to sit down on a bench and watch it. Watch, because surely it can’t be marble, the way it’s sculpted seeming as though the muscles are rippling and moving.

She doesn’t know how long she’s there for, examining the broad shoulders of the immense torso, twisting in his seat as though someone’s called his name, but eventually she notices movement just out of the corner of her eye, only steps away from her.

“Oh,” Rey stands hurriedly, it’s Ben, “am I late?”

“No,” he says quickly, “no, you’re fine. I thought we might start rounding up the students soon though.”

“Oh, of course,” yet Rey finds her gaze drawn back to the statue.

“The Belvedere Torso.”

“Alright, just how many times have you been here?”

“Once or twice,” comes his amused reply. “The original is in the Vatican.”

“These aren’t the originals?” Rey asks in surprise.

Ben chuckles, the sound is a surprise in itself, bringing a strange flash of warmth, like hot chocolate heating her from the inside on a fresh evening, fairy lights giving a golden glow to the encroaching dark.

“No,” Rey thinks she hears the lightest touch of sadness, but it’s gone the next second, “they’d have a lot more security around our students if they were.”

Rey smiles but still makes no effort to leave.

Ben hesitates next to her, as though he’s fighting with himself for a moment but then moves to sit down on the bench. She lowers herself again to sit next to him, the inch of space between them tense with some kind of electricity.

_No, don’t be ridiculous._

“It was one of Michelangelo’s favourites.”

Rey watches him as he in turn watches the statue with intense contemplation, but he makes no other effort to communicate.

She tears her gaze away to glance around the room.

“Which one is your favourite?”

Ben sighs, eyebrows raised as though that’s a big question.

“In here?” He looks around at some of the statues squinting at the head of a man in agony and a centaur carrying a woman away at the back of the room.

“That one,” he says, pointing at the tall statue she’d noticed earlier, the one of the woman with her robes billowing behind her, it’s a stunning figure even with parts missing, crumbled away throughout the centuries.

“Nike, the goddess of victory, made when Athenians recaptured Sphacteria from Sparta. The original is more impressive; it looks like the marble is as light as feathers.”

“You like it because there’s a bit of a nip slip, don’t you?”

“It helps.”

She laughs because he’s funny in a weird deadpan way and she spots his face trying to quell his own smile.

“C’mon,” he says, “I don’t trust the students on their own for longer than 7 minutes.”

Rey stands.

“That’s awfully precise,” she follows him out of the room and back through the maze of the museum.

“It should be an artform.”

They split up to begin locating the students and Rey barely even registers the silly smile on her face until she sees Ellen looking frantic, pacing around a glass cabinet of armour, looking helplessly between it and her notebook.

“Hey, Ellen, are you alright?”

The girl jumps, turning to her. Rey spots some tears just about ready to fall.

“I – I don’t have anything, nothing! I’ve looked at everything, and I’ve got – just nothing!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you don’t need to get this worried about it, I can he-”

“You don’t understand, this is worth 20%. I need it to be perfect if I want to stay in the running for valedictorian.”

Rey feels guilt furl in her stomach, she should have been paying closer attention, she passed Ellen earlier in the day but didn’t even think to check back in later.

“Ellen, come on, you’re incredibly capable, you always apply yourself in my classes and I’ve only heard good things from your other teachers.”

“I’m no good at the creative projects, analysing books, math, physics, sport is all fine, but I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”

“Ellen not everyone thinks the same, it might just take you a little longer for this project. Why don’t we find Mr Solo, maybe he can give you some ideas or an extension-”

But Ellen’s shaking her head vehemently.

“Nooo, no I can’t.”

“Okay well, then may-”

“Is everything okay?”

Rey’s stomach clenches at the sound of Ben’s rich voice, but Ellen looks completely petrified, apparently completely unable to say the words she just said to Rey.

“Ellen’s having some trouble with the assignment,” she begins hesitantly, not wanting to embarrass the poor girl.

Ben’s brow creases slightly.

“It’s the end of the day, why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

Ellen is silent and Rey notices Ben purse his lips.

“Okay. We’ll discuss this later, it’s time to go.”

Ellen looks like she wants to disappear completely, her head turned so far down it’s not possible to see her face at all as she shuffles off. Rey feels her heart break a bit for her. She glances towards Ben, some choice words ready but his face is unreadable, and he moves off to corral the students towards the exit before she can get the words out.

Rey bites her tongue, moving forward to help get the kids to the bus.

She _tries_ to stay quiet, as they do a final sweep. The silence is painful as she follows him to the large yellow bus, all students safely onboard. _This isn’t her excursion, she shouldn’t even _be_ here, it’s his class and he can use his own teaching methods_. She sighs.

“What?”

Rey’s taken aback at Ben’s sudden vocalisation.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You want to though.” It’s an observation, an odd patience to his tone as though he knows exactly what she’s thinking.

And well,_ that_ just makes her bristle, struggling for diplomatic words.

“Well- yeah- look all I’m saying is you could have been nicer to her, she’s a good kid-”

“And?”

“‘And’? What was she meant to do? Anyone could tell she was trying!”

“She wasted an entire day-”

“She was panicking the entire day because she was so terrified of messing up!”

“- when she should have asked for help.”

“But they’re too scared of you to ask!”

“I’m not here to shelter them, I’m attempting to create resilient adults that can contribute to decent literature.”

“Well _something_ has to be wrong if every student dreads going to your class because they’re scared you might yell at them!”

Ben straightens, and Rey suddenly realises how close they’d gotten. She settles more firmly on her heels.

“I didn’t yell.”

The way he says it – certain, almost insistent – makes Rey stop, unsure of how to respond for a few long moments.

“You didn’t have to.”

He blinks at her once, his face hard before turning and stalking away, towards the bus crammed with students peering out at their confrontation. Rey sighs.

_Right then. _

She’d been foolish, letting their interactions the last couple of months blind her to how he’d acted on her first day, he was still that same proud, harsh, grumpy _jerk face_, and she’d simply deluded herself by putting that aside.

_Well,_ Rey continues towards the waiting bus, _I won’t make that mistake again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe everyone! xx


	7. Knowledge is Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a.k.a the Christmas party from a certain someone else's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! xx

Ben remembers the one and only Christmas staff party he went to for Amidala High. It was his second year-teaching at the school and had taken weeks of pleading from Leia; apparently his lack of appearance the previous year had been ‘_noted’_.

He simply didn’t see the point in spending more of his time - as if 8 hours a day wasn’t enough, as well as unpaid overtime - with people he had nothing in common with and no interest in getting to know.

Yet he’d gone along. Because he felt guilty and only moved to his mother’s school to be a better son in the first place;… and it had gone exactly how he expected, only worse. It had started innocuously enough; the usual polite chatter one might share with a teacher in the staff room (if said person wasn’t him, of course), but as the drinks continued to flow they shared progressively more and more intimate details and seemed less hesitant to expect the same of him. Mix in a karaoke stage and the sight of Amilyn Holdo and his mother perform a -_surely_\- choreographed version of Santa Baby had him scarred for life. Knowing the extent of Dr Raddus’ issues, _ahem_, ‘satisfying’ his wife in old age had simply solidified his original prejudice towards the event.

He swore he would never go to another one again.

_And yet… here he is_.

Ben takes another sip of amber liquid, the dull burn not doing much to settle his agitation.

He’d heard nothing but “_oh I didn’t realise you were coming tonight_” “_I haven’t seen you at one of these in a while_” “_finally decided to join the fun, eh, Solo?_” all night, souring his mood more and more until he was left alone at the bar sipping scotch in an admittedly taciturn manner.

Ben lifts his drink to his lips again, but only dregs remain. He glares at it reproachfully, finally wrenching his gaze from the spot across the room where it’d been unconsciously moored.

_Why did he have to single _her_ out tonight? What was on earth was he saying? Probably nothing good._

He was honest enough to understand why he’d relented to Leia’s entreaties to attend tonight. He’d known Rey would attend; considering she was sociable and well-liked by everyone, why wouldn’t she? He’d overheard her chatting animatedly to Ms Connix upon entering the staff room, about some gathering they were having before the party. Ben could pinpoint the exact moment she noticed he was in the room; about a minute later when she went quiet and made some excuse about setting up for her next class. She’d barely spoken two words to him since the museum trip, but then, he had been avoiding her too, even before that day. The truth is, he wanted to apologise for how he acted. But saying the right words had never been a talent of his.

He just hadn’t expected _her_.

Not since day one, when she didn’t back away from him, and when she continued to challenge him by simply being Rey. And like all things that he didn’t have time to prepare for, it threw him completely off kilter and left an ire in him that he was aware was completely unfounded, yet couldn’t quite shake regardless.

Rey laughs at something else Han says. His father rarely came to these things, but this time he had been almost eager to make an appearance.

Ben turns back to the bar forcefully. But in doing so, he accidentally makes eye contact with Dr. Raddus who raises a hand in greeting, looking pleased, and begins to make his way around the bar in Ben’s direction.

A cold, sudden dread grips him.

_Never again._

Ben hastily plunges into the crowd, escaping in the direction of the bathroom.

“Hey, kid! Over here!”

He halts automatically.

_Out of the frying pan…_

He steels himself, adjusting his maroon sweater in the warm bar and heads in the direction Han called from, wishing he could down another drink on the way.

Han looks evidently pleased with himself and Ben risks a glance at Rey, who’d gone noticeably stony.

“Hi, Ben,” her smile seems somewhat frozen and he’s not sure what to do but nod in return.

Han is watching them, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“There he is, you know I was just telling Rey about our trip to Paris, when you set off all those alarms.”

“Of course you are,” Ben gives his father a look.

“It’s a good story,”

“Huh. I thought the French authorities giving us a life ban from the Louvre was a bad thing,” Ben replies coolly.

Han just shrugs, a slight smirk on his face, clearly unmoved.

“Wouldn’t you rather bore someone else with these stories?”

“Oh, no,” Rey replies, but she continues to look at Han, not sparing him a glance. “I’m enjoying them.”

“See,” Han says approvingly, “it’s just you who can’t appreciate them. Rey, did I tell you about our trip to see my brother-in-law when Ben was thirteen?”

“_Dad_.”

“Aw, well maybe another time. You know, Ben, Rey here, has some good stories but I don’t think anything tops that Hux encounter.”

A tint of pink blooms prettily on her tanned cheeks, making him want to watch it happen again and again. She covers her face with a hand, blocking his view.

“Ugh, never speak of that night again.”

“Best thing I’ve seen in months,” Han chuffs, “don’t you agree, Ben?”

Ben’s saved the indignity of replying as Ms Tico pops up next to Rey.

“Hey, Rey! You need to check out Ahsoka’s tattoo, it’s so sick,” she blurts before scurrying away.

Ben hopes he’s imagining the look of relief that crosses her face.

_Doubtful._

“It was really nice to meet you – properly – Mr Solo,”

“It’s Han, kid, Mr Solo is that one,” Han jabs a thumb in Ben’s direction.

She leaves them with one last grin before following Rose to the back of the bar, Ben’s gaze follows too.

“What the hell is wrong with you,kid?”

Ben looks back to his father.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Han nods towards Rey who’s laughing happily at something Ms Tico said.

“What did you do?”

“Who said I did anything?”

Han gives him a look. One that looks uncannily like Leia’s ‘cut the bullshit’ expression. He doesn’t budge.

“Well, just don’t be an idiot. That girl is clever, funny, beautiful, doesn’t put up with your bullshit and above all, for some reason, likes you,” he says as though Ben’s stupid.

“She doesn’t,” Ben says trying not to sound bitter.

“Huh?”

“She doesn’t like me,” he clarifies.

“Kid,” Han makes a face, “you’ve got to open your eyes.”

“She’s _nice_, she’s not interested in putting up with my bullshit in any long-term way,”

Han raises his eyebrows in a conciliatory way.

“Well, if you ask me, that’s not a girl you give up on quickly,” Han tells him, just as Poe bounds over.

“Hey, Han, how’s the old rust bucket going?”

“Hey, show some respect, that car got you and Ben around your whole childhood.”

“And I love her very much for that,” Poe looks at Ben, “hey, a few of us are heading to Club Cantina in a minute, you wanna come?”

“Why?”

“Because some of us are social beings who enjoy spending time together.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Han sighs half amused, roughly grasping his shoulders briefly. “Of course he’ll go.” As though it ended discussions, he smirks at Ben’s glare before departing.

Ben turns back to Poe.

“Pass.”

“Oh, come on,”

“I’ve got to get home; I’ve got more work since the bet with Niima.”

“Ah, and to think you only ever had to ask Rey nicely for the day. You see where being a standoffish dick gets you?”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten your involvement in it.”

“Come on, it’s Christmas.”

“It’s December 15th.”

“Ugh, come on, come to the club.”

“No.”

“I know you like her.”

Ben hesitates for a fraction of a second before recovering his composure.

“I don’t, actually I intensely _dis_like her.”

“Mm_hmm_, Ben; you don’t make the effort to intensely dislike anyone. Plain dis_dain_? Suure, but you don’t intensely dislike someone like Rey unless you _actually_ like her.”

“You are speaking complete nonsense.”

“Or _maybe_ I’m the only one making any sense right now.”

“What about Hux.” He returns, trying to regain ground. He did seem to hate Hux even more recently, despite rarely having to see him.

“Oh no, we’re not including actually shitty people, which _I_ know that _you_ know that Rey is not."

Ben can feel the sure-fire feeling of being caught out creeping up his spine. Poe could see through him like he was nothing more than a freshly cleaned window. Still, the thing was, he didn’t know if he liked Rey. He just wanted to be around her. All the time, it seemed.

“Come on, if you want to seem less like a standoffish dick, making appearances at social gatherings is a requisite.”

“I’m here aren’t I?”

Poe squints at him, like he does when he’s being difficult; it means he’s winning.

“I’m not in the mood, Poe.”

“Fine, but you can’t expect to change her mind if you don’t to let her get to know you.”

“I don’t like her.”

“Whatever you say, cowboy.”

-

In the end it’s Raddus’ wife, Jeanie, who catches him on his way to the coat rack, loudly gushing about how long it’s been since she’s seen him, and fondly remembering babysitting for him when Leia had conferences and Han was away scouting for rare motor parts across the country. He’s sure his ears are bright red and he casts around for a saviour, but Leia’s deep in conversation with Amilyn and her partner. He feels that familiar rising panic when a voice cuts through the haze of his mind.

“Jeanie Raddus, is that you?”

Maz strides over, dragging Chewie along forcefully and Ben breathes a sigh of relief.

“Cal mentioned you’d been asking about commissioning me for an artwork, now tell me-.”

Chewie, winks at him, and underhandedly signs: _I’d take the chance to escape now if I were you._

Ben grins, mouthing thanks to him, he nods at Mrs Raddus politely, and beelines for the exit before she can protest.

Ben hits the fresh icy air and halts, breathing in the sweet, silent stillness. The dull pump of Christmas hits muted behind him.

He reaches his car when the bar door bangs open, a group spilling out laughing and talking loudly. Poe leads the way towards a waiting taxi a few yards ahead, leaving Ms Tico and Rey to corral Trooper and Ms Connix towards it, who are loudly singing some Christmas jingle, their arms around each other, doing more to hinder than help judging by their swaying.

Ben realises he’s staring. He turns back towards his car, fishing his keys out of his black jacket, but he must make some kind of noise because the next thing he hears is Poe hollering across the carpark.

“Last chance, Ben!”

He doesn’t bother turning, just waves him off and hears a not quite muttered ‘alright Mr. Happy’.

Ben hooks his car door open.

“Hey.”

He freezes, looking up. Rey’s half-way across the car park looking hesitant and reserved, as though fighting with herself.

“Are.. are you alright to drive?”

Her breath frosts in front of her, illuminated, for a moment, by the flood lights and circling her head angelically.

He has to blink a few times to clear his thoughts.

“Yeah, I only had two.”

“Oh okay, good.” She doesn’t leave. _He should say it, just say sorry, do it-_

“Rey, come on!”

“Well, drive safe, Ben.”

She turns on her heel, jogging towards the waiting taxi before he can take an icy gulp to respond.

“Merry Christmas,” he says to the air instead.


	8. The Acme of Skill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back with another update! Yes, I'm very shocked too.  
Hope you enjoy!! xx
> 
> Title is from the Sun Tzu quote "To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."

Ben sighs, his breath frosting in the cold January air, observing the landscape of the school grounds carefully. He always resents lunch duty (even when he's not covering someone else's rotation due to a certain bet); as though the students not only can’t be trusted in classes but need supervision in their free time too.

Unfortunately, on this occasion it appears warranted; the initial signs of a mob beginning to form just when the break is about to end.

He rolls his eyes, willing the flock of students floating about the courtyard to stop riling each other up so he can avoid stepping in.

As much as the students – and _some_ teachers – might prefer to believe ‘disagreeable’ is his natural state; he’d rather avoid yelling as a method to restore control. It had taken him longer than it ought to have, to realise that his students probably felt exactly how he had when he was younger, when his own mentor unleashed a torrential flow of abuse. He never claimed to be faultless – he knew he was quick to anger and struggled to reign it in – but nonetheless, Rey’s words outside the museum had hit a nerve. It made him realise that, despite trying, perhaps he still had some way to go to unlearn Snoke’s behaviour.

He narrows his eyes, spotting Jeremy Tanner at the head of the flock.

Ben doesn’t have much time for the boy, he’s taking his senior English class, but he never truly applies himself, seemingly resenting any kind of authority or attempts to assist him, and in return, receives appropriately average grades.

It’s kids like him that make Ben feel especially sorry for anyone who had to teach him as a teenager.

He sighs again, beginning to stride forwards, he’s been in and outside of enough fights to know it’s better to end it now than let it get out of control, but, like an ocean current, the horde swiftly takes on a mind of its own, suddenly swelling and surging forward. Jeremy rushes at another boy and, abruptly, shouts are in the air.

_Fucking hell_.

If he had enough time to sigh again, he would, but he doesn’t.

He races forward, cutting the outdoor corridor to get to the students before they can do too much damage.

He’s still a good ten yards away when a slim, chestnut haired flash darts into the group without pause.

_Rey_.

She’s through to the centre of the circle in a matter of moments.

“Jeremy, Temini! Enough!” She yells, firm and strong. Ben pulls up at the sound of her voice.

And even more surprisingly, the boys stop ripping and punching at each other.

_Huh_.

Strangely enough… that looks like it. The boys step away from each other with some hostile murmurs and typical chest puffing, but little else.

Ben hovers, just outside the crowd still thick with avid observers, some type of emotion swelling in his chest as he watches Rey take control of the situation, despite the two boys dwarfing her.

She steps between them.

“Boys, that’s not the way to resolve an issue, you know this,” she says firmly, but kindly.

But before they can look too abashed Temini speaks.

“Difficult for him, Miss, considering he can barely string words into sentences.”

_Fuck._

-

Rey loves being a teacher, she likes trying to help the kids through this age where things can be tough and confusing, when it’s so important to have someone sympathetic to listen every so often.

She loves it.

But some days can be tougher than others to try to get through to them.

Especially when their hormones are as messed up as they are at this age.

_Especially_ when they decide that acting like children with their adult-sized bodies is a brilliant idea.

Which is the thought that crosses her mind as she lands hard on the cold ground, a sharp pain zinging through her wrist, after Jeremy pushes past to throw more punches at Temini.

_Ow._

But _she’s_ the adult, and she has to act like it right now, despite feeling like an idiot for getting between the two students in the first place.

Before she can even shift a deep, furious voice cuts through the quad.

“HEY!” It shouts. “HEY! BREAK IT UP!”

Ben storms into the circle, physically wrenching the boys apart and Rey feels guilt blossoming in her chest, taking in Temini’s busted lip and the bruise already forming on Jer’s cheek.

She scrambles to her feet and there’s a shooting pain through her wrist, she grasps it in an effort to quell the throbbing.

“Sit down!” Ben booms out, shoving the boys down on a bench as far apart as possible.

He doesn’t let go of their collars, but he turns his head to check on her, meeting her eyes with concern flecking his dark gaze.

She nods quickly, just once, at his unasked question.

But instead of calming him something sets hard in his eyes and he looks back at the boys. Rey can’t see his face, but his voice is deep and dangerous and barely controlled.

“If either of you even think of moving, you’ll be explaining to your parents why you no longer have a school to attend.”

His head flicks up, examining the thick cluster of students still watching intently.

“Don’t you have classes to get to?” Some of the more timid students turn and flee but a large mass stick around determinedly, some with their phones out ready to catch more action.

“If you aren’t out of my sight in the next three seconds, I will personally write up each and every one of you for six weeks of detention with me.”

Whether it’s the furious glare or potent threat the English teacher levels at them, Rey’s not certain, but, like magic, the remaining students scamper.

Finally, it’s just them left.

Ben doesn’t say anything but he’s watching the two boys furiously, surely levelling them with a look even Rey might not be able to withstand.

He lets go of their collars, monitoring them another moment before turning fully to her.

“Are you alright?” He asks in a low voice, and Rey’s shocked at just how much concern is in his tone. His gaze drifts down from her eyes, his brows pinching as he takes in her jaw.

She lifts a hand to her face self-consciously, feeling raw, grazed skin on her chin. _Brilliant_, just another physical reminder of how well she’s handled today. She replaces her grip around her throbbing wrist.

Rey’s strong. She knows she is. She had to be to survive. She’s handled worse than what these boys have thrown at her multiple times before… but those three words from Ben very nearly break her then and there.

She swallows down those feelings though, clearing her suddenly thick throat, giving him a final nod before sidestepping around the English teacher.

Temini won’t look up, nearly cowering in his seat, Jer won’t look at her either but he’s gone the route of stiff silence, gaze fixed furiously on some point in the distance.

Rey summons whatever confidence she has left. She needs to be a commanding figure for these boys right now.

“Well?” She begins firmly. “Who wants to explain what that was all about?”

Neither answer but she feels Ben move closer. She wishes he wouldn’t. She wants – no, _needs_ – to deal with this herself.

“Temini,” she says gently to the sweet boy and he finally looks up; she sees his eyes flit from her wrist to her face, shame filling them before his gaze flicks behind her to a point above her shoulder and he looks down again.

Rey sighs, glancing around. Ben looks thunderous still, towering over them all intimidatingly.

_This won’t work._

She settles him a firm look.

“Thank you, Mr. Solo, if you could give us a moment.”

Rey watches the emotions play out on his face, one chasing the other, almost comically; his lips purse in defiance, his head ticks in confusion and his eyes convey something almost like hurt for all of a brief second, then a dark blank look descends. He takes a steadying breath, his eyes not leaving hers, before turning and striding away.

He doesn’t go far though. He reaches the edge of the quad and turns back, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed against his broad chest, a firm, defiant look on his face.

Rey sighs again.

_That’ll have to do_.

She returns her focus to the two boys.

“You are both well aware that kind of behaviour is unacceptable,” she begins firmly.

“But I know you both aren’t the type to cause trouble from nothing, so go on, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” comes Jer’s sullen retort.

“Well, it’s talking or fighting and the later hasn’t gone well for any of us, has it?” Rey says calmly, getting an angry look from the boy.

_At least he’s not staring holes in the wall anymore._

“You’re both intelligent students, if something’s happened we can work it out, but you need to communicate with me… otherwise I’ll have to ask Mr Solo to take over.”

The boys both stiffen slightly, even sharing the briefest of hesitant glances.

_I’ll take that as a win._

“Right, so what’s this all about?”

-

“Oh, do just go in, Ms Niima, Principal Organa won’t be a moment.”

Rey nods at a frazzled looking Mr. Threepio, stepping past his desk into Leia’s office, continuing to fidget with the report in her hands.

“Mandatory check-in” is what Leia called it, just a formality. Still, it feels like she’s in trouble, although the office puts her at ease somewhat. She likes Leia’s office; it’s a large space but she’s filled it with plenty of green plants and hanging baskets that add a certain serenity to the air. The only thing in the room that screams _luxury,_ is the large mahogany desk in the centre, so solid and dignified it must have cost an arm and a leg. However, even that is balanced with practicality, with just about every square inch of surface covered in papers and manilla folders, dotted with the occasional picture frame.

From her angle Rey can just about make out one of the photographs. She glances at the door, her self-preservation instinct yelling at her to _not be an idiot_, but her curiosity gets the better of her and she ignores the voice, edging closer.

A younger looking Leia and Han stand beaming out at her, their hands on the shoulders of a gangly young boy with dark eyes and a shock of dark hair.

An intense type of _yearning_ emerges out of nowhere and she reaches for the photograph when her own name catches her eye. She halts, glancing at the door again before bending closer to inspect the immaculate cursive on a loose sheet of paper poking out of one of the many manila folders.

_…Ms Niima demonstrated exceptional conflict-resolution and dealt with the situation readily, confidently and competently. She maintained appropriate discipline and de-escalated the situation, preventing continued violence. No one could have handled the situation more capably._

It’s signed at the bottom in an elaborate style that puts her scribble of a signature to shame, but she can just make out Ben’s name.

There’s bustling at the door and Leia suddenly enters, looking distracted. Rey jumps away from the desk, trying not to look like a snoop.

“Oh, thank you for being patient, Rey, it’s just been one of those days.” She smiles warmly. “Please, take a seat, this shouldn’t take long at all. I’ve only heard good things.”

Rey sinks into the seat, trying to ignore an odd fluttering in her stomach, which strangely has nothing to do with her earlier nerves.


	9. It Takes More Courage to Alter an Opinion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title quote by Carl Sagan: It takes more courage to alter an opinion than to stick with it. Comfort is found among those who agree with you; growth among those who don't.
> 
> I've had parts of this written for aages but it was so difficult to make it into something readable! I hope you enjoy xx

Finn was acting weird.

Not to say he always acted _normal,_ per se.

For instance; sometimes he would break into musical renditions of Hamlet’s soliloquy in the shower, or he would walk down the hall and have to repeat it again and again until he got the “flow of movement that he wanted to communicate” _just_ right. Sometimes we would recreate the scene from Braveheart in the middle of their living room – Scottish accent and all – while brandishing a baguette. Hell, sometimes she could hear him sobbing in despair, only to run in to find he was upset because a student had decided their character’s through line of action was: ‘_they were hungry that day’_.

(Privately, she considered it a fair enough reason, although wisely decided to keep that thought to herself).

She was used to strange behaviour.

He was, after all, a drama teacher.

But he was acting weird, even for him.

It finally comes to a head while Rey’s unpacking groceries for the season premiere of _Empire’s End_. Finn keeps padding up to her quietly and just… _hovering_ awkwardly before hurrying back to the couch, sitting rigidly for a few moments and doing it all over again.

After the fourth time – and Rey nearly dropping salsa everywhere – she cracks.

“Finn, just spit it out, what’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing, nothing!” He kneads at the back of his neck. “It’s only… Rose just messaged – something’s come up so she might not make it tonight, but she says she’ll do her best! That’s really nice of her don’t you think, considerate and all that,” he says it all in one breathy go, before mumbling, “but the others will be here soon.” 

Rey freezes.

“The others? I thought it was just Rose and Poe?”

“Ohhhhh, yeeeeaaaahhhh… didn’t I mention? _Solo’scomingtoo_.”

Finn mumbles those last three words very fast; as though he thinks the quicker they’re said the less issue Rey will take with the meaning.

He’s sorely mistaken.

_“What?!”_

“I know! I know!” He says, looking particularly put upon. “It’s just… things have been going so well with Poe and I really wanted to watch the first episode with him – and you! _Obviously_ – but he said he always watches it with Solo and then _I_ said that he could come too, without thinking but then… Poe looked _so_ happy and I couldn’t take it back and I was hoping, y’know, maybe Solo would refuse but… Poe mentioned he was coming yesterday and-"

“You couldn’t have mentioned it a bit earlier?!”

“I swear I meant to… but… every time I was about to, you’d mention something Ben did at school that pissed you off and… I just kept putting it off.”

Rey feels a warmth heating the back of her neck. It could just be embarrassment that Finn thought she talked about Ben too much, but the truth was worse. She’d been meaning to talk to him since the fight – to thank him or… _something_ – but every time she’d convinced herself to _do it_, she’d suddenly remember another task that needed her attention infinitely more immediately. In the end, the easier option seemed to be to pretend the whole event hadn’t happened and make sure no one would find out how cowardly she’d been by venting about Ben’s methods, his moodiness, _hell_, even the way he walked down the hallway, to Finn as usual.

She _may_ have overdone it slightly, and also might not be the best person to lecture Finn on his conflict avoidance right now... but that doesn't stop her trying.

“This is going to be a nightmare.

“I’m sorry! Rose and I had it all planned, we were gonna tag team so you wouldn’t have to be alone together and if there was a lull we’d engage him in some kind of conversation, y’know; the best way to promote fear in the classroom or whether corporal punishment should be reinstated or something. It can still work,” Finn is looking hopeful again, because he’s a sweet optimist who doesn’t know what a bad situation he’s gotten them into, “I’ll get Poe to help.”

Rey hesitates.

“I _promise_, Rey, you won’t feel uncomfortable at all.”

If she’s completely honest, she feels a little miffed that they had a whole contingency plan for this event without her knowledge, as though _she_ was the unreasonable one… but that feeling is currently outweighed by an ample serving of guilt that Finn – the sweetest, most sincere person she’d ever met – had to get so worked-up and plan a contingency in the first place, when all he wanted was to spend quality time with Poe.

“No, Finn, don’t worry, I know you want this night to go well. I’m a big girl, I can manage Ben Solo for a night, please don’t even think about it. But if you guys aren’t official after this, then I’m suing for emotional trauma.” Finn still looks a little hesitant. “Finn seriously, it’s okay, I promise.”

And she means it.

She truly does.

So, when the doorbell rings at 7:30 she isn’t fazed; she definitely doesn’t pretend not to hear it and continue blissfully chopping onions, her palms certainly don’t get so sweaty that she nearly pours double the amount of oil necessary into the fry pan, and her heart rate honestly _doesn’t_ increase erratically at the sound of three grown men walking down the short hallway.

_Nope._

She takes a deep breath to try to steady all those things that are definitely not happening just as Poe bounds in, energetic as ever.

“Hey, Rey!”

“Alright, Poe?”

Ben steps into the room a few paces behind, and he just looks so incongruous in her home. Simply far too big for the space and awkward and restrained and just so… _so_-

_Right?_

That thought alone is enough to make her heart stutter for two beats, which potentially points to a major health issue that she should probably look up in her health book to make sure she’s not at risk of heart failure in the near future.

A loud sizzle and pop bursts from the stove as the oil boils and she whirls around, eager for a culinary disaster if it means she can avoid the situation unfolding in the doorway of the living room.

The almost awkward gap is punctuated by Finn clapping his hands together nervously.

“Well... tour?”

He leads them off giving a rolling commentary she can hear from the kitchen; “that's Steve, our first plant, we keep forgetting to water him so he looks a bit sad, here’s the bathroom… the laundry, oh no don’t go in there, we’ve been ignoring it, my room, Rey’s room.” Her heart clenches with the momentary fear she might have left her door open. She doesn’t think it’s _too_ messy but there’s a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo in a love heart frame (_courtesy of Finn_) that she’d really rather her boss and not-quite-nemesis-colleague didn’t see. Judging from the lack of sniggering, she thinks she’s in the clear. All too soon, their heavy footsteps are returning – _seriously can they not walk quietly, the downstairs neighbours are going to have a fit _– and they’re back in the open plan living room.

“And this is where the magic happens,” and Rey just knows he’s gesturing to the television. “Drinks?” The fridge opens behind her, the sound of clinking glass punctuating Finn’s nervous rambling.

_Better him than me,_ the less-charitable part of her brain crows triumphantly.

“I still can’t believe we had to wait over a year for this season, I’m so excited, I hope they resolve the cliffhang– oh! I can show you the balcony too – that’s definitely tour worthy.”

Rey lets out a quiet sigh of relief, hearing their footsteps retreat again, when someone clears their throat behind her suddenly and she very nearly spills boiling oil everywhere.

“Anything I can help with?”

_He’s probably not even talking to you, don’t engage!_ But before that thought can process, she’s already glanced over her shoulder to find him looking at her with a weird intensity, a bottle-cap twisting between his fingers. _Dammit._

“I’ve got it. Thanks though.”

It’s silent. Well silent except for the vague sound of Finn out on the balcony explaining the detailed routine of the guy across the street who really enjoys naked yoga every Saturday morning.

She hears Ben clear his throat again, quieter this time. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be.” She hopes it doesn’t come out as defensively as she feels.

Silence.

_Well this is absolutely peachy._

She risks another peek but he’s not looking at her, instead examining a picture on the wall, the one of her and Finn grinning next to a schnauzer dressed up as a leprechaun they’d spotted on the street, he’s still fiddling with the bottle-cap.

“Bin’s here,” she reaches to her left and pulls open a lower cabinet.

Which is a _huge_ mistake because, of course, he has to walk towards her to actually drop the offending cap into said bin and that means they’re in close proximity, which Finn _said_ would not happen tonight.

She just… doesn’t know how to act around him anymore. Not that she could ever really get a good read on him, but one minute he can’t seem to stand her, the next he’s helping her out. She needs to say something – _anything_ – to break the weird tension so they can get through the night.

“Why did you ask? If I was alright.” Rey blurts, already cringing.

Ben looks down at her calmly making her realise they are _way_ too close. She turns her attention back to the pan quickly.

“Your eyes are a bit red.”

_Oh_.

“It’s the onions,”

“Ah.”

Another silence.

“Are you sure I can’t do anythi-,”

Rey tries to wave him off because she’s totally got things under control. _It’s not like nachos are a difficult task._

“No, it’s fi- oh, the oven,” she mutters out loud.

_Well, not for someone cooking competent, anyway._

She sidesteps Ben to turn the oven on. Or at least she _tries_ to as he attempts to get out of her path, stepping the same way and catching them in an awkward dance. Rey reaches out and grabs his arms to hold him still, definitely not noticing how little give there is beneath her palms and the thin fabric of his dress shirt (_definitely not_) and passes him to fire up the dinky oven.

_Garlic, don’t let the onions burn, add the meat, tomatoes, chilli, don’t let it burn. _

She’d be lying if she wasn’t slightly thrown by Ben’s presence and, just like cooking, getting things back on track wasn’t a specialty of hers.

_What can she say, she’s more a cut and run type of girl._

But change has to start somewhere, so she perseveres, picking up the knife to crush the garlic and… can barely produce enough force to make them sweat, her wrist protesting suddenly. That creeping feeling of panic starts to inch up on her and she yelps as a large hand covers her own, gently taking the knife from her.

Now, she’d swear in a court of law that that touch alone was more scorching than the spitting oil had been, so honestly, why shouldn’t she yelp?

“I can do this,” He sounds so reasonable in his offer - _and what’s with people sounding reasonable today_?

“Oh oka- thanks, I gues- I can do it, you don’t have to.”

It’s clearly a lie. She knows it. He knows it. But Ben’s uncharacteristically generous in his even response.

“I know.” His eyes are steady and warm, almost like he actually does believe her and Rey feels her face becoming hot for some ungodly reason. She quickly busies herself with stirring.

He puts down the knife and his drink, undoing the cuffs of his shirt and deftly folding them upwards. She stares at the pan determinedly, certain her face must be positively steaming now – _and surely, that’s the maximum temperature_ – but then he’s crushing the cloves with ease before chopping them in fine, practised movements and it ratchets up a few more degrees.

_God, it’s definitely time to get laid if the sight of too-good-for-nightclubs-Ben Solo chopping garlic is enough to turn me on._ Unfortunately, she still hadn’t been brave enough to reopen the dating apps since the Armitage debacle.

Ben finishes the garlic and scrapes it into the pan as she stirs, moving onto the next item to chop.

“How’s your wrist?”

Rey’s good hand unconsciously goes to her wrist.

“Fine.”

Silence again. _Well I guess it’s my turn now_.

“Are you looking forward to the episode?”

“Of course.”

They lapse into silence again.

“How’s the fake-camping preparation going?”

That makes her grin, finally feeling like she’s got some solid ground to stand on.

“Oh, it’s become real now. Poe called Naboo Rangers and it’s all sorted.”

He makes that breathy exhale, the one that’s almost like a laugh.

“I still can’t believe you lied to Leia on your first day.”

“Some of us are just born rebels.”

“I sure hope that gives you some comfort, I can’t imagine how much health and safety prep there’d be for a camping trip.”

Rey snorts lightly.

“Low blow, Solo,” he shrugs nonchalantly, eyes focused on his task, “don’t worry the knowledge I’m saving the kids from a weekend of lectures is all the comfort I need.”

Ben rolls his eyes, a small quirk to his lips as he scrapes tomatoes into the pan and his clean scent seems to engulf her senses momentarily, his overbearing frame practically enveloping her. Yet... the tension fades and there’s an odd domesticity preparing dinner with Ben, their arms brushing occasionally, a weird ease that she’d have never predicted, and she has to admit it to herself;

_This isn’t completely awful._

“Oh my god, we’ve left them alone!”

Rey doesn’t even bother hiding her grin at Finn’s horror-filled realisation, hearing him thunder towards the kitchen to make sure it still exists.

-

_The couch_.

That was one matter Rey hadn’t had time to panic over.

Although, she seemed to be making up for that earlier oversight in a very small amount of time.

It’s not that it was necessarily a small couch, it was a fairly normal sized four-seater.

But… normal sized for the average person… _not fucking behemoths like Ben Solo_.

Throw in Finn and Poe, who weren’t exactly small either and there was a major problem.

Rey already felt all too aware of Ben’s large form next to her when it was just them and Poe, but then Finn arrives, snacks in hand, squeezing into the almost non-existent gap between Poe and Rey with a short “budge up, would you?” and she finds herself wriggling even closer to him.

At the same time, Ben is clearly trying to force himself as far into the corner of the couch as possible - she can’t decide if that’s admirable or insulting - although she's somewhat preoccupied with trying to figure out what to do with her arm and not to be a creep by accidentally feeling him up.

“Sorry – I can turn a bit–”

“Ow, wait, I’ll just–” she tries shifting but it makes it worse, as her shoulder gets caught between his arm and the couch, “okay not that way – maybe–”

“Here – I’ll–”

“No, it’s fine, really – I’ll just sit on the carpet.”

But before she can stand up, he shifts suddenly, angling just slightly towards her and lifting his arm to rest on the back of the couch. Rey freezes – _he essentially has his arm around her_.

But it is better.

_Much better actually_.

Almost _too_ good, the warmth from his strongly corded chest seeping through at her back and his arm around her feeling like security. But it’s _Ben_. She should not be needing to clench her thighs together or even be thinking about _him_ and feeling _safe_ or _warm_ in the same sentence. Because he is a jerk, and just because he’s got a nice body and saved her skin the other week and hasn’t really sent her any scowling looks in a few months doesn’t mean she likes him.

_It doesn’t._

“I can still move, it’s fine.” Part of her hopes he’ll say yes, but the opening credits for _Empire’s End_ have started – too loud and sudden – and Ben doesn’t seem to hear her offer, attention engrossed on the screen ahead.

It’s strange. _Very strange._ Sitting on a couch with Ben, side by side like they were comfortable with each other. But she stays silent because it’s also…. weirdly _nice_.

Finn and Poe remain completely oblivious and smitten; she’s not even certain they’re paying attention to the characters on screen they’d been so excited to watch, let alone what’s happening mere inches away.

It’s only ten minutes into the first episode, when Kira’s started her quest for vengeance against the crime organisation that killed her family by infiltrating their base, that Ben shifts – just slightly – turning his head towards her, and Rey realises he had been absolutely immobile previously.

“Is it just me, or do you feel like a chaperone?”

His breath ghosts the shell of her ear and Rey can’t find it in her to not enjoy the chills that prickle along the sensitive skin there and down her spine. _Even if it is Ben_.

She glances over at Poe and Finn who are definitely not watching as the evil Ren probes Kira’s cover story and nearly exposes her, whispering to each other and giggling silently like the school kids they teach.

And yet, Rey can’t stop her own smile at their affection before whispering a reply.

“Worse than the freshmen at the winter dance.”

And if she has to lean slightly further into his strong, warm torso to sit comfortably, then that is completely necessary to enjoy the show.


End file.
